Little Motel

Track 10 on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Produced by

“Little Motel” is a slow-paced, contemplative song about the mourning of someone dear to the narrator. The song’s arrangement is performed in classic Modest Mouse style… Read More

Mar. 20, 20071 viewer29.3K views

Little Motel Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I hope that you like it in your little motel
And I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well
Well, I can see it as time and a sight through smell and
That's why it's nice to be by yourself

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, darlin'

[Verse 2]
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and
I know that I don't want to be out to drift
Well, I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and
They both tell me that we're better than this

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, darlin'

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[Verse 3]
We trade tit for tat like that for this
And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed
I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and
I'm very sorry

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for
That's what I'm waitin' for, darlin'

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 4]
Remainders of a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke down little car
Before then we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one or another just did not exist

[Chorus]
'Cause that's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' on, aren't we?
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' on, are we?
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for, darling

[Outro]
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for
That's what we're waitin' for, aren't we?

About

“Little Motel” is a slow-paced, contemplative song about the mourning of someone dear to the narrator. The song’s arrangement is performed in classic Modest Mouse style, which consists of muted drums and weaving guitars, building up to a brilliant instrumental breakdown that features an entrancing guitar melody.

Additional insight into the song’s meaning is perhaps best derived from the song’s time-reversed music video. The video depicts a mother with her son, who is seen at the beginning being tucked into bed in a motel room. In the end (or beginning of the events chronologically), it is revealed that the son was dying in a hospital. The mother decides to remove the monitors from the son, and drives him to have dinner, and eventually to a motel. Presumably, the mother cannot stand the thought of her son dying in a cold hospital room.

“Little Motel” is the third single to be released from the album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.