Sun Kil Moon - Stranger Than Paradise lyrics

May, 2016 Los Angeles Checked into the hotel Cecil yesterday I was given a key for a room on the fifteenth floor And I checked into it It surprised me as I had heard the higher floors were for Residents only As of May this year, according to the guy at the desk anyhow it’s actually the second and third floors, so he told me I had read that Richard Ramirez stayed on the fourteenth floor and of course I asked about it But the clerk said nobody knew the specifics on the room in which stayed and I said, “Ah sh**.” Fifteen was the very top floor, right under the water tanks where a body was supposedly found I took the room and immediately walked around the hallways and noticed fire escapes all throughout Building going from the bottom to the top had easy access to the roof The fire escape That was of course if a fire You aren’t afraid The noise from the streets was so overbearing that I asked for a room on the other side of the hall They said they got a room on the fourteenth floor if I didn’t mind And I said, “No, not at all.” So I took it and I guess it was on what you call the courtyard side of the building But there was the loudest thud coming from somewhere keeping me up and after (thud, thud, thud) Much exploring It was a elevator motor so all the other floors I went roaming I found the lower the floor the quieter the motor They gave me a room on the fourth floor but I didn’t take the room without getting a photo of my fourteenth guest floor door And I finally fell asleep and when I woke up I went for a little walk That morning I’m walking around LA Walking around downtown LA And the sun is shining today For pushing 50, I’m doing great I’m walking around LA Walking around downtown LA And the sun is shining today For pushing 50, I’m feeling great Saw Richard Edson parking his bike Saw Richard Edson parking his bike I said, “I like your acting in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.” I said, “I like your acting in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing And Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise And your liner notes on the Sonic Youth reissue” Then I said, “Hey, it was really nice to meet you” An interesting thing to know in regards to the Cecil There are two elevator doors in the lobby and two up above On the mezzanine level But in the famous footage that you see of the girl there’s definitely an elevator door on the guest room hallway ‘Cause when you step out of the door to go to your room you see the white comms that were right in front of her and the wooden panel that goes sideways The amount of the activity in the lobby and the elevators in that hotel was more than any in all my years of world traveling The amount of staff members and maids and maintenance workers roaming around that place was totally mind boggling At all times young, foreign tourists were lined up at the front desk As long as lines you’d see at a busy, big city post office Would I say it’d be easy to snatch up a girl and drag her up onto the roof in a 700-room place like that? f** yes Would I say she could have been invited up there by a group of people to check out the view? Yes Would I say she could have been pulled into one of the multiple shared bathrooms and choked out then dragged up and dumped into a shark tank? f** yes Would I say that she could have easily went up there all on her own and went for a swim? Yes Would I believe even more a kid pulled a prank and is sitting back on a love in the soap opera? Yes ‘Cause I see no evidence to support her d**h besides Vague news reports And one photo of what were allegedly her parents showing up At the LAX airport Talk of losses but no legal documents have I ever seen to support it No lawyers speaking on behalf of the alleged Lams and no friends who ever spoke on Elisa’s behalf I asked a parking lot attendant who had been working there for ten years “When that girl was found dead up there in 2013, were you here?” She said, “Ah, I don’t believe no girl up there ever even died.” I said, “Me either but can I ask why you think that, if you don’t mind?” She said, “You know how a little thing is said and gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger?” And I said, “Yes.” And she said, “I think that’s what happened next door.” I was completely with her Caroline picked me up and I told her everything that happened She said, “Cool, glad you got that out of your system Now let’s go check into a real hotel down the street And get down to Manhattan Beach and say hi to Cameron We’re driving the 1-10, gonna say hi to a friend Spend the day on his TV set and show some love and respect We’re driving the 1-10 and we stop for Italian food And saying hi to Cameron Thought that we’re doing right and good We talked about Bowie at length and he introduced me to Luke Wilson And he said he liked my ba** playing in Stillwater And I said I liked you in Vacancy and Bottle Rocket And we talked about James Caan and The Godfather And Cat Stevens songs and Steve Miller He said, “Man, I hope we get to work together.” I said, “Man, that would be great It was nice to meet you.” We left the set and drove back downtown the Biltmore As I feel asleep the mystery of Elisa Lam was still on my mind Like what was I, some f**ing investigator? And she was real and for whatever reason her body was found in that water I’m sorry for the parents and their poor, young daughter I’m sorry for your loss, this world can be a real Pile of sh** But I’m counting my blessed tonight, baby ‘Cause we’re both healthy and alive So let’s embrace it Went off to the studio in Sherman Oaks Laid down a few new tracks Took a break, a Peruvian restaurant down the street and thought The ceviche was the best I ever had I told Nathan it was time for me to get on my flight back to San Francisco But wow, what a great weekend and… On the way to Long Beach today We stopped along the way To see her brother and say hey To his family and the kids spraying Each other with hoses in the yard And I thought about when I was young And how the yard was so much fun Oh, I thought about when I was young At the Long Beach airport, waiting for the flight to San Francisco Said I like this airport, it’s not too f**ing big enough At the Long Beach airport Waiting for a flight to San Francisco I said, “Caroline, thanks for coming down. I love you.” She said, “I had a good time and I love you too.”