Chelsea Hotel #2, Leonard Cohen

This little vignette is one of my favourite Cohen songs. It's so self-deprecating and funny, yet also really heartbreaking. 'You told me again you preferred handsome men/but for me you would make an exception' is just a perfect line. I've always found it takes a genius artist to get that balance just right so that you're both laughing and crying inside, and Cohen frequently achieves this. It's about a guy, in love with a woman (apparently Janis Joplin), and what they get up to at the Chelsea Hotel. His love is now unrequited as he sings in denial that "I remember you well." Even more perfect is the final line. After baring his heart bare and using all this poetry to describe their encounter, he claims that 'I don't think of you that often.' It's absolutely perfect - has he had other such encounters which are equally heartbreaking? is he simply convincing himself that he doesn't love this woman? or was this song just off the cusp? Either way, it's perfect!