ROOM 100: When Sid Murdered Nancy at Chelsea Hotel

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Sex Pistols Bassist Sid Vicious allegedly murdered his girlfriend Nancy Spungen at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City on Oct. 12, 1978.

According to New York magazine, the night of the murder went like this: At 2:30a.m, Spungen asked Rockets Redglare – a sometimes bodyguard for Vicious who also sold drugs, according to The New York Times – to get some Dilaudids, an opioid painkiller. Around 7:30a.m., “female moans” were heard from the room from other guest in the hotel. At 10a.m., Vicious called down to the front desk, asking for help. Nancy Spungen, who had been stabbed in the stomach with a knife, bled to death on the bathroom floor. She was 20 years old.

“Vicious, who was found wandering the hallways in an agitated state, was arrested and charged with her murder,” according to the UK’s Independent. “Though he initially confessed to the crime, he later denied it, claiming he had been asleep when she died.”

The tradegy rocked the world and sent the punk world into crash.

Read Rolling Stone’s full article on the account “Flashback: Nancy Spungen Found Dead at Chelsea Hotel

Wanting to express this massive music event in song, I wrote this tune back in 2008.  But the first draft was terrible. I just could NOT find the groove that matched the subject matter.

Most songs come to me very fast…. 1-2-3 boom, done!  But this one?  Man, I played it 1000 times and still made that “ewww” face. So I sat on it for a few years. And finally, one day, it just came to me in the minor chord with proper melody where it found its true place. This is the song I recorded back in 2012.

Free Download ROOM 100 on Soundcloud.com

LYRICS

You know its dark in my way city
Smack it up there goes John Simon Ritchie
There’s bodies buried and their pretty vacant
Life’s no use you know he’s gonna take it cause….

Someone’s in Room 100
Get up here we got something to fear
There’s trouble in Room 100
1-2-3 it’s anarchy

So the call comes in on the front desk line
She’s really sick and she ain’t doin fine
Please sweet darling can do me a favor
Chelsea doesn’t want to be in paper cause…

Someone’s in Room 100
Get up here we got something to fear
There’s trouble in Room 100
1-2-3 it’s anarchy

In 78 every thing was great
Punks in the street and everyone on their feet
Never Mind the Bollocks she’s the talk of the town
October redrum gonna bring us down

Someone’s in Room 100
Get up here we got something to fear
There’s trouble in Room 100
1-2-3 mister Anarchy

There’s trouble in Room 100
A vicious kid hey look what he did!

There’s trouble in Room 100
1-2-3 mister Anarchy

 

CHORDS

Em
D D Em
D D

Em                                      C      D
You know its dark in my way city
Em                                     C                   D
Smack it up there goes John Simon Ritchie
Em                                                  C         D
There’s bodies buried and their pretty vacant
Em                                                    C         D
Life’s no use you know he’s gonna take it cause….

G                      C         D
Someone’s in Room 100
G                               C                      D
Get up here we got something to fear
G                            C          D
There’s trouble in Room 100
G             C          D
1-2-3 it’s anarchy

BRIDGE (riff from Anarchy UK)
A D Cb
A D Cb
A D Cb
A E