Chelsea Hotel No.2 Ukulele chords

I'm a big fan of Leonard Cohen, but for some reason, it tends to get a frown when you play one of his songs. I suppose he has a reputation for the more morose or downbeat lyric, but I am a huge fan.

Anyway, been playing a few of his songs lately, and this one kind of stuck. To be in our jam session last night with Ken Middleton, started playing this and finding Ken singing along made me decide to put it up on here. It may not be the best known song, but it's a good one. Ken told me he loves Cohen and has played many of his songs on guitar and uke. Good enough reason to share!

It's a song to be played slowly - ideally fingerpicked with a bit of a strum coming in to accentuate the lyric in the chorus - the "you got away didn't you babe" parts. And for those wondering, the fabulous lyrics tell the story of his romance with Janis Joplin and his time in bed with her in the famous Chelsea Hotel in New York.


Chelsea Hotel No.2 - Leonard Cohen



I re- [C]member you [G] well in the [F] Chelsea Hotel [C]
You were talking so [Em7] brave and so [Am] sweet
[C] Giving me [G] head on the [F] unmade [C] bed
While the [F] limousines wait in the [G7]street

[Am] Those were the reasons and [F] that was New York
We were [C] running for the [Em7] money and the [Am] flesh
And [F] that was called love for the [C] workers in song
Probably [F] still is for those of them [G7] left

Ahh but [F] you got away, [C] didn't you babe
You [C] just turned your [Em7] back on the [Am] crowd..
[F] You got away, I never once [C] heard you say,
I [F] need you, I don't [C] need you,
I [F] need you, I don't [C] need you
And [F] all of that jiving a[Am]round [G7]

I re-[C]member you [G] well in the [F] Chelsea Hotel [C]
You were famous, your [Em7] heart was a [Am] legend
You [C] told me [G]again you [F] preferred handsome [C] men
But for [F] me you would make an ex[G7]ception .

And [Am] clenching your fist - for the [F] ones like us
Who are [C]oppressed by the [Em7] figures of [Am] beauty
[F]You fixed yourself, you said, [C] Well never mind
We are [F] ugly but we have the [G7] music.

And then [F] you got away, [C] didn't you babe
You [C] just turned your [Em7] back on the [Am] crowd
[F] You got away, I never once [C] heard you say ,
I [F] need you, I don't [C] need you ,
I [F] need you, I don't [C] need you ,
And [F] all of that jiving a[Am]round [G7]

I don't [C] mean to su[G]ggest that I [F] loved you the [C] best
I can't keep track of [Em7] each fallen [Am] robin
I re[C]member you [G]well in the [F] Chelsea Ho[C]tel
That's [F] all, I don't even think of you that [G7] often..