Stranger Than Paradise

(album: Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood - 2017)

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 shit."
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?
Fuck 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?
Fuck 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 death 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 bass 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 fucking 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 shit
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 fucking 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."