Lyrics for singles by Lou Reed

Sweet Jane
Walk on the Wild Side
Dirty Blvd.



Sweet Jane

Standin' on a corner
suitcase in my hand
Jack's in his car, says to Jane, who's in her vest
Me, babe, I'm in a rock n' roll band
Ridin' in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim
those were different times
And the poets studied rows of verse
and all the ladies rolled their eyes

Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane

Now, Jack, he is a banker
and Jane, she is a clerk
And the both of them are saving up their money
then they come home from work
Sittin' by the fire
radio just played a little classical music for you kids
the march of the wooden soldiers
and you can hear Jack say

Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane

Some people like to go out dancing
And other people, (like us) they gotta work
And there's always some evil mothers
they'll tell you life is full of dirt
And the women never really faint
and the villans always blink their eyes
And the children are the only ones who blush
'Cause life is just to die
But, anyone who has a heart
wouldn't want to turn around and break it
and anyone who ever played the part
he wouldn't want to turn around and fake it

Sweet Jane




Walk on the Wild Side

Holly came from Miami, F-L-A
Hitchhiked her way across the U-S-A
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs
Then he was a she
She says hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
She say hey babe, take a walk on the wild side

Candy came from out on the island
In the back room she was everybody's darlin'
But she never lost her head
Even when she was givin' head
She says hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
She says hey honey, take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls sing
Doot, doo doot, doo doot, doo doot doo doot
Doot, doo doot, doo doot, doo doot doo doot

Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New york city's the place where
They said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
They said hey joe, take a walk on the wild side

Sugar plum fairies came and hit the streets
Lookin' for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the apollo
You should have seen him go go go
They said hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side
They said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side

Jackie is just speedin' away
Thought she was james dean for a day
Then i guess she had to crash
Valium would've helped that bash
She said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
She said hey honey, take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls sing
Doot, doo doot, doo doot, doo doot doo doot
Doot, doo doot, doo doot, doo doot doo doot




Dirty Blvd.

Pedro lives out of the Wilshire Hotel
He looks out a window without glass
The walls are made of cardboard
newspapers on his feet
His father beats him 'cause he's too tired to bed
He's got nine brothers and sisters
They're brought up on their knees
It's hard to run when a coat hanger beats you on the thighs
Pedro dreams of being older and killing the old man
but that's a slim chance he's going to the boulevard
This room costs 2,000 dollars a month
you can believe it man it's true
Somewhere a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants
No one here dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or anything
they dream of dealing on the dirty boulevard
Give your tired your poor I'll piss on 'em
That's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, let's club 'em to death
and get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard
Outside it's a bright night, there's an opera at Lincoln Center
Movie stars arrive by limousine
The klieg lights shoot up over the skyline of Manhattan
But the lights are out on the mean streets
A small kid stands by the Lincoln Tunnel
He's selling plastic roses for a buck
The traffic's backed up to 39th street
The TV Whores are calling the Cops out for a Suck
And back at the Wilshire Pedro sits there dreaming
He's found a book on Magic in a garbage can
He looks at the pictures and stares at the cracked ceiling
"At the count of three," he says, "I hope I can disappear"
And fly fly away