Pepe Hush
Leo Kottke Lyrics

The sun comes up on a fleabag our hero checks in at four
As the sun rises, our protagonist arrives at a run-down hotel at four in the morning.

He's snoring away on a dune rag but it's dawn and he'll snore no more
Despite sleeping soundly on a makeshift bed, the morning hours signal the end of his peaceful slumber.

There's a cough, a sneeze, a dreadful bark, some woman yells hush up
A cacophony of unpleasant noises disrupts his rest as an irritated woman attempts to quiet them down.

The woman is louder than Pepe is but Pepe will not shut up
Despite the woman's loud admonishments, the dog named Pepe continues to make noise.

He bounds on the wall with his left foot and jumps on the bed with his right
Pepe playfully hops around the room, using the walls and bed as his personal playground.

The woman is screaming at Pepe and Pepe seems very uptight
The woman's screaming makes Pepe anxious and on edge.

He falls on the lamp with his face first and fries his nose on the bulb
Pepe's boisterous behavior leads him to collide with a lamp, scorching his nose on the hot bulb.

He scratches his eye on the lamp shade and falls on the floor with a thud
As he loses his balance, Pepe accidentally scrapes his eye against the lampshade before ultimately falling to the floor with a loud noise.

That drove Pepe crazy, now Pepe knew something was up or down
The noise and chaos caused by the woman and Pepe himself made him agitated and aware that something was not right.

The guy is completely unconscious and Pepe's got his ear to the ground
While the man in the room with them is passed out, Pepe listens closely for any signs of danger or trouble.

He barked for his mom to protect him
Pepe seeks protection from his owner, who he sees as his mother figure.

He barked for the clown at the desk
Pepe also calls for the hotel receptionist, who he calls a clown.

He barked for no good reason
Pepe continues to make noise unnecessarily and for no apparent reason.

Pepe hush, don't make so much noise
The woman and others urge Pepe to quiet down and stop making noise.

So in a dream he advanced, he'd break that woman's arm
In a dream state, Pepe imagines physically harming the woman who has been scolding him.

Her ulna did not stand a chance, but the dog would be the first thing he'd harm
Pepe fantasizes about breaking the woman's arm, but ultimately decides to first attack the dog in the room, as he is the one receiving the woman's ire.

He hung it outside on a power line and laughed as it emitted sparks
Continuing his violent dream, Pepe imagines hanging the dog's lifeless body from a power line and finding humor in the electrical sparks it produces.

But when he regained his consciousness the first thing he heard was a bark
As Pepe snaps out of his disturbing dream, the first sound he hears is the barking of the dog he had just envisioned killing.