Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there

I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears

Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now bleed for me

I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart


Lyrics submitted by capitol76

Venus In Furs Lyrics as written by Lou Reed

Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Venus in Furs song meanings
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61 Comments

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  • +6
    General Comment

    i think it is bleed. gives me shivers down my spine when Lou sings that line. I sure hope it is bleed. plead would be less chilling to me.

    yoladuon December 15, 2011   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    Yeah it's about S&M, more specifically the story from the book 'Venus in Furs' which is basically about 'Severin', the slave and the girl he is obsessed with who he gets to mistreat him for pleasure. Then she falls for the 'Black Russian Prince' and blah blah, just a trashy novel as described by lou reed.

    one of the best songs,

    billiecapuleton February 13, 2010   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Of course it's about S&M. "Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather..." Man, I LOVE this song.

    parttimecynicon February 12, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Venus in Furs was, off the top of my head, a book written by Baron Sadler-Masoch about his unusual relationship with a girl that eventually gave birth to the term 'Masochism', i.e., to gain sexual enjoyment from being hurt. I think 'Severin' might have been the name of a character from the book. Anyway, it's about S & M isn't it?

    Rich_Mon May 27, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears

    RIP Lou

    TheWrongGirlon October 29, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Amazing song, the lyrics flow and fit perfectly with the rythem. And its spoken almost gently with a certain force in words.

    Morphinehazeon August 23, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    anne rice- claiming of sleeping beauty. "i could sleep for a thousand years" i just read the series not too long ago and i was sitting hear reading the lyrics to this song and it just dawned on me. its exactly like those novels how sleeping beauty, after a thousand years sleep, is finally awaken by her prince who then takes her in as his sex slave. if you haven't read these books.. do.

    sierracg1on May 09, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Everybody has already fleshed out the meaning at those point. Just wanted to add that just as much as the lyrics, John Cale's electric viola makes this song. The music is perfectly harsh and a perfect fit for for the lyrics.

    I like to imagine what this sounded like in 1967. This was 2 years before Led Zeppelin, and the Velvets are singing about heroin and S&M and playing a screeching electric viola on this track and exploratory noise music in "European Son."

    In addition to being brilliant, this was music that was decades ahead of its time, music that changed the world. Fuck yeah.

    tessa11834on November 08, 2022   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Severin isn't the guy's name, it's what his abusive aunt used to call him. Later in life, he finds a domanatrix and gets her to dress like his aunt, call him "Severin", and treat him like she did, because it turns him on or somehing.

    Chloe le Fayon July 08, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears

    ...the greatest stanza ever written by the velvets....by anyone for that matter...i find this song as a definition for so much in my life...mainly because an order follows a choice and i just get pissed off about it...why should i care what others want...why should i care what i want...perception is a blackhole...wdc

    venusinfurson September 27, 2002   Link

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