submissions
| The Velvet Underground – The Gift Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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By the way, the title "The Booker T" refers to not just "some guy in a band back then"; Booker T. Jones was a bandleader at Stax whose band Booker T. & the MGs had a hit in 1962 with "Green Onions" - good stuff, check it out. Their stuff is very similar to the backing track on this song, but obviously not quite as experimental(!) |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – The Gift Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think that would be a great idea - let's face it, if you read the lyrics first without hearing the music, you might wonder just where this is going, and teenagers have ridiculously short attention spans these days (I'm eighteen, I ought to know!) Though there is mention of sex fairly early on, so they might hang in there a bit longer...
As for whether the girls know he's in there or not: I don't think they do, but it's clear that both of them have no respect for Waldo ("that schmuck"). When they see he's sent a package, whatever it is, they treat it with an equal lack of respect ("might as well open it"; there's not any real interest there) and open it roughly. Whether they know or not, they're not concerned about hurting him physically or emotionally - carelessly ruining any gift he'd sent *would* be hurtful.
The girls in this song/story are portrayed as cold, heartless, hedonistic floozies, whereas Waldo is sensitive, almost childlike, and a victim. Makes me wonder what experience Lou had when he wrote this while still at college, whether it is autobiographical at all... |
submissions
| Lou Reed – Goodnight Ladies Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Actually, I think Eliot himself lifted that from Shakespeare; Ophelia's last words are "Goodnight, sweet ladies, goodnight" before she drowns herself after being rejected by Hamlet - which fits in with the idea of being left by your other half. The narrator goes home after a night of debauchery or what have you (the oompah brass sound seems to link in with the transvestite theme in "Make Up", and just the way Lou sings it is very camp and sexy) and is alone with his TV dinner and his self-pity. It might even go back to the Factory days - being surrounded by people enjoying the high life (tequila), but everything being so superficial; it's fun and you enjoy it as much as you possibly can (sucking the lemon peel dry) but you still end up going home alone. And in the absence of human company, why not get high. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – Temptation Inside Your Heart Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I agree that they were probably just mucking about...the voice is Sterling, I'm pretty certain, definitely not Cale, unless he was doing an NY accent just for the hell of it (he's Welsh..) Oh, and I always thought it was "razor's edge", not "razor's itch". |
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