In Otis and Marlena, Otis empties out the trunk on the steps of that celebrated dump. What is that 'celebrated dump'?
The lyrics printed in the LP sleeve and in the Complete Poems and Lyrics offer no help. 'Sleazing by the sea' is on a separate line with no punctuation before or after. It appears that Otis is 'sleazing by the sea' while unloading the car. However, the lyrics in the DJRD songbook offer more guidance -- there is a colon after 'dump', and 'Sleazing by the Sea' is capitalized. Now it appears that this is Joni's nickname for the hotel that O&M are checking into. What follows are several references to the hotel's features: her royal travesty; her ballrooms; her bedrooms; her golden pools. The hotel is made female and evokes images of a madame and a whorehouse. The real name of the hotel is revealed later in the song: Miami Royal, thereby echoing the lyric 'royal travesty.' The average listener might not pick up all this on first hearing the song. It was only after I consulted the songbook and discovered the capitalization of Sleazing by the Sea that this all gelled for me. Slow, or what? What this brings up is: Does Joni have an editor? Does she proof her lyrics when they are printed? Does it really matter? I've always loved O&M, punctuation aside.
