Another Song with Roots in the Chelsea

Patti Smith divulges the origins of her song "Gloria," in a recent interview with Simon Reynolds.

Gloria, says Smith, it's a song about her sister Linda, a sort of morbid fantasy rooted in remorse: the pair, rooming together in the Chelsea Hotel, quarrelled, and Linda disappeared, causing Patti much anguish. Written in 1971, the verses languished in a drawer for several years, until they were pulled out and given an incongruously jaunty reggae backing.

Patti in her room at the Chelsea.