Bob Wire: Music

Hotel Maximillian

(Bob Wire)

2008-03-15

Ednor C. Therriault

This is the flat-out grimmest song I've ever written.

I read a lot of crime fiction, and I love the movies of Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Robert Rodriguez, and many other directors who weave a lot of violence into their storytelling.

I changed the number of dead people reported by the radio dispatcher to two, from the original 15. (Coincidentally, there were 15 people killed in one verse of Cold Blooded Killer, from American Piehole.)

Other songwriters have suggested that I make the ending more uplifting, but I like the darkness of it. I don't feel particularly compelled to hold the listener's hand and tell him everything's going to be okay.

I've also been told this sounds like Jerry Garcia, but I don't see it.

Smoke on the horizon means there’s trouble up ahead
Radio dispatcher says 15 people dead
I hit my lights and siren, she tells me the address
Something starts to tighten in my chest

I can see the fire from a half a mile away
The Hotel Maximillian has seen her final day
Several engine companies are trying to gain control
Another fire is burning in my soul

The Hotel Maximillian is where we used to live
Long before I joined up with the force
After mama left us we tried to forge ahead
But my old man would never stary the course
Not one sober day since their divorce

The seven story building is now engulfed in flame
In the panic and the chaos I hear someone call my name
I turn to see a paramedic standing with a man
In a blanket with a bottle in his hand

The man looks like he’s 80, but I know he’s 59
He told the paramedic he’s a relative of mine
I look my daddy in the eye and slowly shake my head
No, I tell him, my whole family’s dead

The Hotel Maximillian is where we used to live
Long before I joined up with the force
After mama left us we tried to forge ahead
But my old man would never stary the course
Not one sober day since their divorce