You or Your Memory
Album: The Sunset Tree and Come, Come to the Sunset Tree
Lyrics
I checked into a bargain priced room on La Cienega
Gazed out through the curtains at the parking lot
Walked[1] down to the corner store just before nightfall in my bare feet
Black tarry asphalt, soft and hot
And when I came back I spread out my supplies
On the counter by the sink
I looked myself right in the eyes
St. Joseph's baby aspirin
Bartles and Jaymes
And you or your memory
I ducked behind the drapes when I saw the moon begin to rise
Gathered in my loose ends, switched off the light[2]
And down there in the dark I can see the real truth about me
As clear as day[3], Lord if I make it through tonight
Then I will mend my ways and[4] walk the straight path to the end of my days
St. Joseph's baby aspirin
Bartles and Jaymes
And you or your memory
Banter
- This is a song that offers you a Hobson’s choice. It’s called You or Your Memory. (2005-05-07)
- This is a song about how... someday you might find yourself in a hotel — well, hotel is a generous term — you might find yourself in a motor lodge, The Royal Hawaiian motor lodge on Crenshaw. There's a Polaroid picture of a naked lady in the window of the Royal Hawaiian, and it says, 'Sexy Movie, $5'. That's how you know it's a class act, the Royal Hawaiian. You may find yourself there someday, plotting what you might do there. I don't recommend what you had in mind. Better days are coming. (2006-09-29)
- It's a song that takes place in a hotel, a hotel whose secret name, secret because none of y'all were there and I were, was — probably going back someday — the Royal Hawaiian, the Royal Hawaiian hotel. Motel. I really think to call it a hotel would be putting on airs. The Royal Hawaiian hotel, it was a mile and a half from the AIDS hospice where I was working, from which I got fired after I got arrested. You can't be working in the AIDS hospital jobs if you're gonna spend time in jail. I was an honest man, I came in, I said, 'Hey, I just think I should let you guys know, I spent the weekend in jail.' That's what 21-year-olds are like. I said, hey, they'll be cool, they're probably all right. But my employer was actually the Roman Catholic Church, they weren't cool with that. They said, 'Cool, come back if — what are you going to plea?' I said, 'No contest.' 'All right, well, we'll see you again sometime.' (2006-11-03)
- I looked up the motel in this song on, like, Yelp to see what people had to say about it. They didn’t think it was such a great motel. I don’t- maybe they missed- like, for me, well the front office has bulletproof glass; that’s pretty cool. And there’s a Polaroid picture of a naked lady in the bulletproof glass and it says ‘Sexy Movie Five Dollars’. So, I don’t know what these Yelp people have against this lovely motel that I stayed at in 1988 when I was working at an AIDS hospice. (2012-12-17)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. "ducked" (2023-10-27), "I went" (2023-10-28), "went" (2021-08-08)
2. "and I gathered in my loose ends, and I switched off the light" (2021-08-08)
3. Variant: "as clear as all daylight" (2023-10-28), "clear as daylight" (2021-08-08)
4. Variant: "and I will" (2021-08-08, 2023-10-28)