Lou Reed

[fox69]

"The Proposition"

"The Proposition"


You can't have the flower without the root
you can't have the fire without the soot
Even a stripper needs her red tasseled suit
and we were meant to be

In every war the North needs the south
and everyone knows all assholes have a mouth
Without mystery what would writers talk about
and we were meant to be

An apple needs pits the way melons need seed
your foot needs your arm and your arm needs your knee
And one of these days I know you will need me
we were meant to be, ooohhh, we were meant to be

You're mother's an ogre your father's a scamp
you won't see my parents honored on any stamp
But just like a bulb screws into a lamp
we were meant to be

The way the AIDS needs a vaccine, somewhere a vaccine needs
AIDS, The way a victim needs life, a life needs to be saved
And out of all of this will come a better way
we were meant to be

So you can go to Europe, Los Angeles or Mars
you can stand on a building throwing cinder blocks on cars
You can practice deep voodoo, but like me you'll see
we were meant to be, we were meant to be

We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be
We were meant to be

 

[fox69]

"The Raven"

"The Raven"


[Poe:]
Once upon a midnight dreary
As I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious
Volume of forgotten lore
While I nodded, nearly napping
Suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping
Rapping at my chamber door
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered
"tapping at my chamber door
Only this and nothing more."

Muttering I got up weakly
Always I've had trouble sleeping
Stumbling upright my mind racing
Furtive thoughts flowing once more
I, there hoping for some sunrise
Happiness would be a surprise
Loneliness no longer a prize
Rapping at my chamber door
Seeking out the clever bore
Lost in dreams forever more
Only this and nothing more

Hovering my pulse was racing
Stale tobacco my lips tasting
Scotch sitting upon my basin
Remnants of the night before
Came again
Infernal tapping on the door
In my mind jabbing
Is it in or outside rapping
Calling out to me once more
The fit and fury of Lenore
Nameless here forever more

And the silken sad uncertain
Rustling of the purple curtain
Thrilled me, filled me
With fantastic terrors never felt before
So that now, oh wind, stood breathing
Hoping yet to calm my breathing
"'Tis some visitor entreating
Entrance at my chamber door
Some lost visitor entreating
Entrance at my chamber door
This it is, and nothing more."

Deep into the darkness peering
Long I stood there
Wondering fearing
Doubting dreaming fantasies
No mortal dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken
And the stillness gave no token
And the only word there spoken
Was the whispered name, "Lenore."
This I thought
And out loud whispered from my lips
The foul name festered
Echoing itself
Merely this, and nothing more

Back into my chamber turning
Every nerve within me burning
When once again I heard a tapping
Somewhat louder than before
"surely," said I
Surely that is something at my iron staircase
Open the door to see what threat is
Open the window, free the shutters
Let us this mystery explore
Oh, bursting heart be still this once
And let this mystery explore
It is the wind and nothing more

Just one epithet I muttered as inside
I gagged and shuddered
When with manly flirt and flutter
In there flew a stately raven
Sleek and ravenous as any foe
Not the least obeisance made he
Not a minutes gesture towards me
Of recognition or politeness
But perched above my chamber door
This fowl and salivating visage
Insinuating with its knowledge
Perched above my chamber door
Silent sat and staring
Nothing more

Askance, askew
The self's sad fancy smiles at you I swear
At this savage viscous countenance it wears
Though you show here shorn and shaven
And I admit myself forlorn and craven
Ghastly grim and ancient raven
Wandering from the opiate shores
Tell me what thy lordly name is
That you are not nightmare sewage
Some dire powder drink or inhalation
Framed from flames of downtown lore
Quotes the raven, "nevermore."

And the raven sitting lonely
Staring sickly at my male sex only
That one word
As if his soul in that one word
He did outpour, "pathetic."
Nothing farther than he uttered
Not a feather then he fluttered
Till finally was I that muttered as I stared
Dully at the floor
"other friends have flown and left me
Flown as each and every hope has flown before
As you no doubt will fore the morrow."
But the bird said, "never, more."

Then I felt the air grow denser
Perfumed from some unseen incense
As though accepting angelic intrusion
When in fact I felt collusion
Before the guise of false memories respite
Respite through the haze of cocaine's glory
I smoke and smoke the blue vial's glory
To forget
At once
The base Lenore
Quoth the raven, "nevermore."

"Prophet," said I, "thing of evil
Prophet still, if bird or devil
By that heaven that bend above us
By that God we both ignore
Tell this soul with sorrow laden
Willful and destructive intent
How had lapsed a pure heart lady
To the greediest of needs
Sweaty arrogant dickless liar
Who ascribed to nothing higher
Than a jab from prick to needle
Straight to betrayal and disgrace
The conscience showing not a trace."
Quoth the raven, "nevermore."

"Be that word our sign of parting
Bird or fiend," I yelled upstarting
"get thee back into the tempest
Into the smoke filled bottle's shore
Leave no black plume as a token
Of the slime thy soul hath spoken
Leave my loneliness unbroken
Quit as those have quit before
Take the talon from my heart
And see that I can care no more
Whatever mattered came before
I vanish with the dead Lenore."
Quoth the raven, "nevermore."

But the raven, never flitting
Still is sitting silent sitting
Above a painting silent painting
Of the forever silenced whore
And his eyes have all the seeming
Of a demon's that is dreaming
And the lamplight over him
Streaming throws his shadow to the floor
I love she who hates me more
I love she who hates me more
And my soul shall not be lifted from that shadow
Nevermore

 

[fox69]

"The Tell-Tale Heart (Pt. 1)"

"The Tell-Tale Heart (Pt. 1)"


True
Nervous
very nervous

Madman

Why will you say that I am mad
The disease has sharpened my senses
not destroyed
not dulled them

Madman

The eye of a vulture
a pale blue eye
with a film overit

Listen
observe how healthily
and how calmly I tell this story

He had no passion for the old man
He was never insulted

He loved him

It was the eye the eye the eye

I made up my mind
To take his life forever

Passionless

The eye of a vulture

You should have seen me

How wisely I proceeded

To rid himself of the eye forever

With what dissimulation I went to work

Caution

I turned the latch on his door
and opened it

To work

To practice

I opened his door
and put in a dark lantern

Dark

Slowly I put my head in
Slowly I thrust it until in time Ientered
I was in so far

He was in so far
he could see the old man sleep

And then I undid the lantern so a thin ray
fell upon the eye

The vulture eye

He did this for seven days

Seven days

But always the eye was closed
and so I could not do the work

And in the day he would greet the old man
calmly in his chamber

Calmly

Nothing is wrong and all is well

Knock, knock
who's there

Came night eight

Night eight

I was slower than a watch minute hand
The power that I had with the old man
not to even dream my secret thoughts

Secret thoughts

My sagacity
I could barely conceal my feelings of triumph

When suddenly the body moved

The body moved

But I went in even further
pushing the door open even further

Who's there

Who's there

I did not move a muscle
I kept quiet and still

The old man sat up in bed

In his bed

Who's there

I heard a groan
and knew it was a groan of mortal terror
not pain or grief

Oh no

It was the low stifled sound that arises
from the bottom of the soul
when overcharged with awe
I felt such awe welling up in my own bosom
deepening with its echo the terrors that distracted me
Knowing what the old man felt and

Pitying him

Although it made me laugh

Ha ha

He'd been lying awake since the first slight noise
He'd been lying awake thinking

Thinking

It is nothing but the wind

The wind

It is nothing but the house settling

The old man stalked with his black shadow

Death approaching

The mournful presence of the unperceived
causing him to feel my presence

Open the lantern

I saw the ray fall on the eye

On the eye

 

[fox69]

"The Tell-Tale Heart (Pt. 2)"

"The Tell-Tale Heart (Pt. 2)"


Furious
It made me furious
A dull quick sound pounding
Like a watch encased in cotton
Tick tock
I knew that sound well
It increased my fury
The beating of the old man's heart
I scarcely breathed and refrained
Motionless
The tattoo of the heart
Hellish
Increased and was extreme
It grew louder

Louder

I am nervous at this dead hour of the night
amid the dreadful silence of this old house
this sound excites me to uncontrollable wrath
I thought someone would hear this sound
I thought his heart would burst

His hour had come

Please open the door
Open the door

The old man has gone to the country
Gone to the country
But please search well
Please search well
These are his treasures

Treasures

Secure and undisturbed
Please sit and rest
You must be fatigued

Wild audacity
Perfect triumph

So they chat
Chat
Of familiar things
I hear ringing
Ringing
Do you not hear it

No

It is louder
It is making my head ache
Do you not hear it

No
No
No

I, I have a headache
The day is long
Do you not hear it

No

Do you fucking mock me
Do you mock me

They know
Do you think me
They know

An imbecile
Do you think me a fool
Villains dissemble no more

I admit the deed
Admit, Admit
Here, here
Admit

It is the beating
of his most hideous heart

 

[fox69]

"The Valley Of Unrest"

"The Valley Of Unrest"


[Rowena:]
Far away far away
Are not all lovely things far away
As far at least lies that valley
as the bedridden sun in the luminous east
The paralyzed mountains, the sickly river
Are not all things lovely far away
Are not all things lovely far away
It is a valley where time is not interrupted
Where its history shall not be interpreted
Stories of satan's dart of angel wings
Unhappy things
Within the valley of unrest
The sun ray dripped all red
The dell was silent
All the people having gone to war
Leaving no interrogator to mind
the willful looting the pale past knowledge
The sly mysterious stars
The unguarded flowers leaning
The tulips overhead paler
The terror stricken sky
Rolling like a waterfall
over the horizon's fiery wall
A visage full of meaning
How the unhappy shall confess
As Roderick watches like a human eye
While violets and lilies wave
Like banners in the sky
Hovering over and above a grave
As dew drops on the freshly planted eternal dew
Coming down in gems
There's no use to pretend
Though gorgeous clouds fly
Roderick, like the human eye has closed forever
Far away far away
Roderick, whatever thy image may be
Roderick, no magic shall sever the music from thee
Thou hast bound many eyes in a dreamy sleep
Oh tortured day
The strains still arrive
I hear the bells
I have kept my vigilance
Rain dancing in the rhythm of a shower
Over what guilty spirit to not hear the beating
To not hear the beating heart
But only tears of perfect moan
Only tears of perfect moan

 

[fox69]

"The View"

"The View"


I am a chorus of the voices
That gather up the magnets
Set before me

I attract you and repel you
A science of the heart
And blood and meaning

The coldness of most beauties
Is a challenge that our youth
Must quickly conquer

There is no time for guilt
Or second guessing, second guessing
Based on feeling

I am the truth, the beauty
That causes you to cross
Your sacred boundaries

I have no morals
Some think me cheap
And someone who despises
The normalcy of heartbreak
The purity of love

But I worship the young
And just formed angel

Who sits upon the pin of lust
Everything else
Bores me

I want to see your suicide
I want to see you give it up
Your life of reason
I want you on the floor
And in a coffin your soul shaking
I want to have you doubting
Every meaning you’ve amassed
Like a fortune

Oh throw it away

For worship someone
Who actively despises you

For worship someone
Who actively despises you

I am the root
I am the progress
I am the aggressor
I am the tablet
These ten stories

Worship
Worship

Pain and evil have their place
Sitting here beside me
I offer them to you as servants
Of the gold that you must give

Pain and evil have their place
Sitting here beside me
And I’ll offer them, I offer them to you
As servants of the gold
That you must give to me

I want to see your suicide
I want to see you give it up, give it up
Your your life of reason

I want to see you on the floor

And in a coffin, soul shaking
Soul shaking
I want to have you doubting
Every meaning you’ve amassed
Like a fortune, like a fortune
Throw it away

For worship of someone who actively despises you

Who actively despises you

 

[fox69]

"There Is No Time"

"There Is No Time"


This is no time for celebration
This is no time for shaking Hands
This is no time for backslapping
this is no time for marching Bands

This is no time for optimism
this is no time for endless Thought
This is no time for my country Right or Wrong
Remember what that brought

There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time

This is no time for congratulations
This is no time to turn Your Back
This is no time for circumlocution
This is no time for learned speech

This is no time to count Your Blessings
This is no time for private Gain
This is the time to put Up or Shut Up
It won't come back this way again

There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time

This is no time to swallow Anger
This is no time to ignore Hate
This is no time to be Acting Frivolous
Because the time is getting late

This is no time for private vendettas
This is no time to not know who you are
Self knowledge is a dangerous thing
The freedom of who you are

This is no time to ignore Warnings
This is no time to clear the Plate
Let's not be sorry after the fact
And let the past become out fate

There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time

This is no time to turn away and drink
Or smoke some vials of crack
This is a time to gather force
And take dead aim and attack

This is no time for celebration
This is no time for saluting Flags
This is no time for inner Searchings
The future is at hand

This is no time for phony Rhetoric
This is no time for political Speech
This is a time for action
Because the future's within Reach

This is the time
This is the time
This is the time
Because there is no time

There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time

 

[fox69]

"Think It Over"

"Think It Over"


Waking, he stared raptly at her face
on his lips, her smell, her taste
Black hair framing her perfect face
with her wonderful mind and her incredible grace

And so, he woke, he woke her with a start
to offer her his heart
for once and for all, forever to keep
And the words, that she first heard him speak
were really very sweet
he was asking her to marry him, and to

Think it over
baby, think it over
Think it over
baby, why don't you think it over

She said, somewhere, there's a faraway place
where all is ordered and all is grace
No one there is ever disgraced
and everyBODY there is wise and everyone has taste

And then she sighed, well la-dee-dah-dee-dah
you and I have come quite far
and we really must watch what we say
Because when you ask for someone's heart
you must know that you're smart
smart enough to care for it, so I'm gonna

Think it over
baby, think it over
Think it over
Baby, I'm gonna think it over

 

[fox69]

"Trade In"

"Trade In"


I met a new me at 8 am, the other one got lost
this was not a trade in, although I wouldn't believe the cost
I woke up crying as we said goodbye
me an my old self, each day he vanished more and more
as I became someone else

He actually was murdered I had taken him apart
but when I put him back together, I couldn't find his heart
It was resting underneath a chair, in a bed of bright tin foil
if I pulled back the flaps, I could still see it beat
I could still hear his voice uncoil, As I said :

I want a trade in, a 14th chance at this life
I've met a woman with a thousand faces
and I want to make her my wife

How could I have been so mistaken, how could I think that it was true
a child that is raised by an idiot, and that idiot then becomes you
How could I believe in a movie, how could I believe in a book
but most of all how could I listen to you, such an obvious schmuck
A life spent listening to assholes, it's funny but it's true
so get rid of them I said to myself
but first I'm getting rid of you

I want a trade in, a 14th chance at this life
I've met a woman with a thousand faces
and I want to make her my wife

Take me over to the window, my heart said to my head
please set me on fine, so we can start again
I was so wrong that it's funny, and I can't apologize
but instead you can be everything that I'm not, the second that I die

ooohhh, I want a trade in, the second chance at this life
I've met a woman with a thousand faces
and I want to make her my wife

Ha!
A 14th chance at this life, I want a trade in ...
... I said ... uuuhhh, 14th, 14th chance at this life

 

[fox69]

"Tripitena's Speech"

"Tripitena's Speech"


[Tripitena:]
My love
The king by any other name a pissoir
You, my love tower over them all
They are but vermin beneath your heels
They are monkeys
Suit them, frame them to your own vision
But do not let one false word
Of mockery seep through to your vast heart
I have seen you from close and afar and your worth
Far exceeds your height, your width
The depth of your sorrow
Oh willful outcast doth thou not see the light of our love
Our linked fortunes
Our hearts melded together
Into one fine golden braided finery
They listen to the music of idiots and amuse themselves
With the sordid Miseries of their businesses
They are not the things of angels
Nor of any higher outpost that humanity might aspire to
Your loathsome vomitous
Businessman king is of the lowest order
His advisors
Crumbling mockeries of education driven by avarice
My love
Dress them in the suits of mockery
And in their advanced state of stupidity
And senility
Burn and destroy them so their ashes might join the compost
Which they so much deserve
If justice on this earth be fleeting
Let us for once hear the weeping
And the braying of the businessman king
Let them be the the orangutans they are
And set them blazing from the chandelier for all to see
Hanging from the ceiling by their ridiculous chains
And petticoats which you will have them wear
Under the guise of costumic buffoonery
He who underestimates
In time is bound to find the truth sublime
And hollow lie upon the grates of systemic disorder
Businessmen
You're not worth shitting on