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Sam Wong Hotel Lyrics
There by the blue, blue sea
On my morning walks
Seagulls dip and sway
Over the mossy rocks
Oh feel the wind blowing in
Cool summer days
Boats in the bay
Sailing along
Under a lone palm tree
On my easy rest
Centered in my gaze
Her pretty yellow dress
Oh, Katherine drifts again
Into my mind
Freezing the time
She visits me still
Oh, marina
Pastel hues
Which one tomorrow
Of your many moons?
Coast guard city light
My late evening walks
Down the port's mouth square
Pass Sam Wong Hotel
Oh, Chinatown
Closing down
Ghostly moon mist
Eerily dressed
Oh harp player
On Grant Avenue
Which one tomorrow
of your haunting tunes?
On my morning walks
Seagulls dip and sway
Over the mossy rocks
Cool summer days
Boats in the bay
Sailing along
On my easy rest
Centered in my gaze
Her pretty yellow dress
Into my mind
Freezing the time
She visits me still
Pastel hues
Which one tomorrow
Of your many moons?
My late evening walks
Down the port's mouth square
Pass Sam Wong Hotel
Closing down
Ghostly moon mist
Eerily dressed
On Grant Avenue
Which one tomorrow
of your haunting tunes?
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When I first heard the chorus--"Oh, marina / Pastel hues / Which one tomorrow / Of your many moons?"--it knocked me out. The way that the music rises alongside Kozelek's question, reiterated in the second chorus ("Oh harp player / On Grant Avenue / Which one tomorrow / of your haunting tunes?"), is one of his most affecting moments so far.
Like Proust, he recognizes that most, if not all memories are involuntarily recollected. So the marina and the harp player, similar in their effect to Proust's madeleine, evoke for Kozelek--and the connection between these signifiers and that which they signify is invariably inexplicable, as the process completely transcends conscious understanding--memories of his past that would otherwise not be at the forefront of his mind.
His discussion of these objects is posed in question form because the memories they might present are entirely beyond his choosing--he asks because he's really just a passive observer in his own mind (as we all are). Kozelek is drifting through his day, taking his morning and late evening walks; he passes by the marina, or hears the harp player, when, suddenly and without any input on his part, "Katherine drifts again / Into [his] mind..."
Down the port's mouth square Pass Sam Wong Hotel should be Down to Portsmouth Square Past Sam Wong Hotel
Portsmouth Square.. lovely public space near the hotel on the border of San Francisco's Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods. I love the sense of place evident throughout Mark Kozelek's lyrics. This song is one of my favorites.