A song a day: Sun Kil Moon - Sam Wong Hotel

Mark Kozelek is a man haunted by his past and every part of his repertoire, from his beautiful originals to his obtuse (and often bizarre) cover songs, they all seem to be mired in his experience. The last Sun Kil Moon record was an oddity as Kozelek abandoned his band and played the entire album on a nylon string guitar. The songs were bare with cheesy Spanish guitar flourishes but with a gravity that gave weight to even the strangest musical diversion. More over the album was haunted by the death of his long term muse who was the subject of many of a Red House Painter and solo song. She moves through Sam Wong Hotel like a ghostly apparition

Oh Katherine drifts into my mind
Freezing the time, she visits me still

This is a song of loss, disconnection and moving on - moving forward but not intact, a piece of your heart gone forever to a past that can never be regained. Chinatown is always closing somewhere in the world.

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