you for a while

Music and Lyrics by: Tori Amos

Instrumentation: Drums, Programming, Bass, Guitar, Wave, Kurzweil, Bose & Vocals

Brief Summary: With all of its cool metaphors and obscure references, Hotel is pretty straight forward (of course, everyone has their own interpretation…equally as valid).  Hotel appears to tell the story of a woman who meets this shady guy (in a hotel beneath the ground, perhaps) and is captivated at first by his impulsiveness and carefree ways.  She wants some of that wild abandon for herself, hence the “Give me more” refrain.  But, instead, she finds herself taking care of him and taking crap from him.  She eventually determines that this is no way to have a relationship.  “I have to learn to let you crash down,” she says.  She decides to leave, because what she is “seeking isn’t there.”  She realizes she didn’t want an irresponsible sort of excitement…rather a more mature sense of fulfillment.  It is not easy to leave this relationship…the intensity of it is thrilling and overwhelming.  But she makes it out alive…as we can tell by the last two or three lines.

Tori’s Comments: “I think as you’re getting married all the loves, even ten minute loves, are popping up. Hotel was really like feeling like an agent, a spy, in that he was the greatest guy at one time and they were giving me time behind enemy lines. Even though she knows they can’t be lovers because it’s a whole other life…she just can’t let him go.”

Fan Comments/Interpretations: Most fans agree that Hotel is about the end of a relationship…one that wasn’t too good for the girl (you don’t meet high class peeps in Hotels apparently). She’s become a little too absorbed in this not-so-good fellow and he appears to be dragging her down. She comes to her senses and reclaims her identity again.  Yeah, I know…pretty much what I wrote above.  For some excitement, I’ll throw in that “the Velvets” are a group of characters from Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere.”  Oh, and a few people on the forums say that the “I’m still alive” refrain refers to her rape survival.

China2Ny’s Comments: I used to pray to the Lord above that Tori would release Hotel as a single and make a video. Oh, God, how cool would it have been to have had a Hotel video?