Track 6 of the album Houseplants for Company · 2024
Winter Lets in the Quiet Hotel
by Wren Hallett
“The seafront hotel keeps one lamp lit by the door and I'm very fond of it. It's the song I'd hum while watering something.”
acoustic · seaside folk · hushed acoustic · 3:10
Lyrics
The seafront hotel keeps one lamp lit In the window by the door The landlady knits behind the desk There are six guests, maybe four I carry my bag up the creaking stair To a room that smells of rain There's a blanket folded at the bed's foot And the radiator's humming low again Winter lets in the quiet hotel Pull the curtain, hear the sea There's a hush in the hallway, a bell on the door And a pot of tea for me Winter lets in the quiet hotel Nothing here is asked of me Just the tide and the lamp and the soft slow dark And a place that lets me be Breakfast is toast and a boiled egg Served by the window grey She says the summer people will come But not today, not today Winter lets in the quiet hotel Pull the curtain, hear the sea There's a hush in the hallway, a bell on the door And a pot of tea for me Winter lets in the quiet hotel Nothing here is asked of me Just the tide and the lamp and the soft slow dark And a place that lets me be Let the gulls keep the watch Let the pier hold its breath I have time to listen to the sea And I have time to rest Winter lets in the quiet hotel Pull the curtain, hear the sea There's a hush in the hallway, a bell on the door And a pot of tea for me Winter lets in the quiet hotel Nothing here is asked of me Just the tide and the lamp and the soft slow dark And a place that lets me be A place that lets me be