Paris nineteen fifty-six, number nine rue Git le Coeur Word is out and everybody's beating on the door Madame Rachou will let you in, just smile and ring the bell Welcome to Nirvana at the Beat hotel
The sweet smell of Pernod, a Gauloise cigarette It's a cosmic congregation but you ain't seen nothing yet It's an open invitation, an existential clientele All looking for Nirvana at the Beat hotel
They looked for it in New York City and San Francisco Bay They looked for in bebop jazz and it blew them all away They tried out every avenue and then said "What the hell, We'll look for it in Paris at the Beat hotel"
Burroughs came up from Tangiers, Ginsberg from New York Kerouac came up from Italy and slept out in the park Gregory Corso came and went and where he's at no one can tell He's still looking for Nirvana at the Beat hotel
Take me to your leader, take me to the man Someone has got the answer, someone's got the perfect plan If you're looking in the alleys, if you're looking in the bars You'll find us in the gutter, looking at the stars
This ragged band of poets, Christians, Buddhists, Jews A new Beat generation searching for the Muse Some found it in the arms of a mystic mademoiselle Looking for Nirvana at the Beat hotel
The rooms count up to forty-one, but you can sleep out in the hall For a few centimes you can get a drink and write your poems on the wall And the marijuana mixes with the Tukish toilet smell It's all part of Nirvana at the Beat hotel
Alex Campbell strums an old guitar someone picked up in Spain Ginsberg's howling poetry and Kerouac's drunk again The rent is overdue there must be something they can sell Maybe they can sell Nirvana at the Beat Hotel
Someone's taking photographs, Janine takes off her clothes Marlene's meditating and concentrating on her toes Jasmine hides in room sixteen and curls up in her shell She's communing with Nirvana at the Beat Hotel
Take me to your leader, take me to the man Someone has got the answer, someone's got the perfect plan If you're looking in the alleys, if you're looking in the bars You'll find us in the gutter, looking at the stars
They did it for the journey and not for getting there Fame is in a whisper when you pay the taxi fare It's just this side of Heaven and a long, long way from Hell It's somewhere in Nirvana at the Beat Hotel
Nothing lasts forever, and forever's in a rhyme It's a Buddha-like connection and everybody has their time If you want to drink the water you've got to dig into the well Maybe then you'll find Nirvana at the Beat Hotel
It was over by nineteen sixty-three and everyone had gone But they'd opened up the road and the revolution was getting won When the poems were painted over and they rang the final bell It was goodbye to Nirvana at the Beat Hotel
The myth is stronger than the truth, and truth can sometimes lie To see it all for what it was you need an uncorrupted eye Was the journey worth it, only time will tell Still looking for Nirvana, at the Beat Hotel
Take me to your leader, take me to the man Someone has got the answer, someone's got the perfect plan If you're looking in the alleys, if you're looking in the bars You'll find us in the gutter, looking at the stars