Little Motel

Isaac Brock always hides deeper meanings within his lyrics using symbolism, look at Cockroach for instance. If you don't really listen to the lyrics of Cockroach, you don't understand how deep the song actually is. Little Motel is no different. It's laced with symbolism from the very beginning – the title. Little Motel. Why little motel? If you think about it, a motel is something you check in and out of as you please. It is accessible whenever convenient for you and its staff caters to your every need. When you leave, don't worry about cleaning up the mess, the motel takes care of it.

When he sings, "I hope that you like it in your little motel and I hope that the suite sleeps and suites you well" I think that he is metaphorically speaking about himself. His hurt and pain is beautifully hidden within these lyrics, as it is with so many of his songs. He is a genius like that.

"I can see it as time and as sight through smell and that's why it's nice to be by yourself"

He is consumed by her, she haunts his memories, she is all he can think about, making it impossible for him to move on, because regardless who he is with, when she is ready to "check back in" he'll open up a room for her, even if one isn't available, so it's best not to move on. Just stay single because he still can't refuse her whenever she decides to come around.

At this point in the song, that is what he is waiting for.

We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this

When you are out to drift, you are left wondering aimlessly and hopelessly alone, lost. He knows that he doesn't want that, but yet, they treat mishaps like sinking ships. One fight, one argument and they abandon ship, let it go down, swim to shore. Then he reverts back to the memory of her - of them- and he knows, they are better than this. They could make it work. And that's what he is waiting for this time.

We trade tit for tat, yeah, that for this And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and I'm very sorry

Here he is saying that they take everything for granted. They clearly had a falling out. He, again, reverts back to the memory he has of them -of her- only this time, when he recalls her eyes and her lips, he is now tasting how damaged she is. He is very sorry and hopes that she will be fixed, which is what he is waiting for this time.

The remnants of a shooting star Landed directly on our broke-down little car If only then we had made a wish That we would be missed If one or another just did not exist

Okay, now this is where reality begins to actually set in. As beautiful as it is to see a shooting star fly across the sky, it is nothing but ugly rock and ash that causes a lot of damage when it finally lands. He uses the symbolism of the remnants of this ugly, dusty rock falling on a broken car. The damage of the star doesn't really matter that much since the car was already broken. I like to think that their relationship is the star and his heart is the car. "If only then we had made a wish" When they saw that it was crashing down, if they would have done anything to salvage some portion of the relationship, be it some form of friendship or civility, just a wish that what they had would be missed when it was over, but they didn't. And now, what they are both waiting for is the memory of what they had to disappear, to be over. They both want the painful memories of what they almost were, what they could have been, to not exist.

That is what they are waiting for.

Isaac Brock, you know the lyrics to my soul!!!

MrSamurai is correct with his idea of what this song means.

I'd just like to add that the chorus

"that's what we're waiting for"

Is saying that, even though they are fighting against it, they are both waiting for it to get to the point where it is officially over and/or waiting for the part where each will no longer mourn over the death of the relationship.

And, in that respect, it is a love song. Not in the traditional "Come Back To Me" or "You Mean The World To Me" sense. It's more along the terms of "This is what happens when love reaches it's end".

This song is about death. Your little motel is a coffin.

People see too much in this song I think. I take it pretty literal.

"I hope that you like it in your little motel And I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well Well I can see it as time and a sight through smell That's why it's nice to be by yourself"

His SO (who I am assuming lived with him) left him. She stayed in a motel a few days to get things together, figure out where to go, find a more permanent place to live, etc. This first verse is, again, pretty literal. "I hope the motel's nice, I guess you needed the space and a breather, sometimes it's nice to be alone"

"Cause that's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I? That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for darlin'"

Basically he's waiting for her to really leave. He doesn't necessarily want her to, he's just anticipating it.

"We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this"

Every little mistake, tiff, argument turns into a big fight that could break the relationship and he sees (through her eyes and lips (words?)) that they are better than that.

Again the chorus repeats that he's waiting for the end.

"We trade tit for tat, yeah that for this And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and I'm very sorry"

Their trading ugly words, fighting again, and he can tell he's hurt her with something he said and he's so sorry.

Again, in the chorus, he knows they are approaching their end. We named ourselves a shooting star Landed directly on our broke-down little car Before then we had made a wish That we would be missed If one or another just did not exist"

They are wishing, hopelessly (the crashing on the car), that they'll at least miss each other and still care about one another down the line.

"Cause that's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting on, aren't we? That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for darlin'

That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for aren't we?"

The sudden change to "we" shows they, at this point, BOTH know the relationship is not going to work. And it's over.

This is a very beautiful, hopeless song. One of MM's best.

The song is about death, first verse might sum up the entire song.

I hope that you like it in your little motel I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well I can see it as time and sights through smells That's why it's nice to be by yourself

The motel itself is a coffin. Someone the story teller loves has recently died in some way, either figuratively or literally. He sees to the best of his ability that his loved one is allowed to go in peace. He isn't bitter or depressed but hopeful. He reminisces about times spent together with his deceased; memories are also triggered by familiar smells. He leaves the little motel neither content nor rueful. Maybe with a sense of helplessness about his own mortality.

Maybe I'm focusing too much on just one portion of the song, but this is what I've always thought. And I didn't read all the comments so maybe this has already been said, but here it is anyways.

"The remainders of a shooting star Landed directly on our broke-down little car Before then we had made a wish That we would be missed If one or another just did not exist"

Here, I think Brock is saying that when it comes to a romantic relationship, you want to find someone who you would miss if they never existed. I don't feel this way about someone romantically and I never have (which is the reason for a couple of my break ups in the past), but I do in a platonic way towards my best friend. If she did not exist, if I had never met her then I believe there would be a gaping hole in my life. When it comes to love that's what people are looking for: someone who, if they did not exist, would cause you to feel an absence in your life. So, when Brock says, "That's what I'm/we're waiting for" he means that both he and his current partner are searching for someone that fits this description--and they haven't found it in each other; hence the lines "They both tell me that we're better than this" and " I'm very sorry".

I love this song, tied with Spitting Venom for my favourite song off the new album

I'm pretty sure that in this song what we are waiting for is not love but it is instead death. We are with our lover waiting to miss him/her. I think Isaac likes to play around with this, writing something that can conventionally be taken in another way but really inverting it and making it negative (see the lyrics to Gravity Rides Everything as another example of this, also a song about death).

what the fuck people its clearly " remainders of a shooting star " how hard is it to hear that clearly? come on people lets stop the madness.

This song can be about anything, I think just because the music video portrayed one circumstance it doesnt necessarily mean the words are about that one perticular event. The song is about a relationship, any relationship, and feeling detached. Still wanting to hold on when you know its slipping right out of your hands and there is nothing you can do about it. Whether this song is about two lovers, a mother and a child, it has a universal message which is not knowing what you have until you lose it.