Walk on the Wild Side- Lou Reed Tribute

Standing on a corner
Suitcase in my hand
Lisa says
“I’m waiting for my man”
And I say “Hey, babe,
Take a walk on the wild side.
Sail the darkened seas.
Your European son is gone,
Bye, bye, bye.”

Shiny, shiny
Shiny boots of leather
And a big straw hat
But what costume shall the poor girl wear?
A femme fatale
Beginning to see the light

What goes on in your mind?
I don’t know
Just where I’m going
But anyone who ever had a heart
They wouldn’t turn around and break it
How does it feel
To be loved?

Life’s like
Sanskrit read to a pony
But despite all the amputations
Despite all the computations
What’s good?
Life’s good
And it was all right

This is my tribute to Lou Reed who passed away last Sunday.  This is completely made up of lines from Lou’s songs with the Velvet Underground and a couple of his solo songs.  Sort of a poetry/musical/lyrical collage.
I’m not sure if it really fits with Anna’s Meeting the Bar post on dVerse, but I’ll just throw it out there and let everyone else decide. 🙂

Child of the System

Stu McPherson’s prompt over at dVerse today is The Art of Rebellion.  So I dug up this nugget from way back in 1994 when my friends and I formed a rebellious little punk rock garage band. I wrote a lot of sneering, middle-finger-waving, punk song lyrics for the band back then, even though we never actually got around to putting music to them… Oh, well- Viva La Revolucion! LOL

Child of the system

You’re a child of the system

You’ll never be the same

No you’ll never know your name

You’re gonna do just what they want you to

You’re gonna do just what they want you to

 

Don’t look at me. Ha!

I told you so

They got you in the ruts

You’re just one among a million

Society takes away your guts

 

You’re part of it all

Look at yourself

They got you by the balls

Made you another self-righteous clone

Society keeps you in its walls

 

Child of the system

You’re a child of the system

You’ll never live again

Your whole life’s in vain

You did just what they wanted you to

You did just what they wanted you to

 

They said you need a degree

So you got one

Spend the next ten years in debt

Get the job you’re channeled into

You know you’ll be on the PTA yet

 

You’re setting up for

The American Dream

Whose dream is this anyway?

You’re now one among a million

Another zombie throwing your life away

 

Child of the system

You’re a child of the system

Your life is not what it seems

An American nightmare, not a dream

But you did just what they wanted you to

But you did just what they wanted you to

I made a lot of posters, t-shirts, etc with various versions of the “Child of the System” figure on them back in my spiky haired youth 😉

Love Song For Luna Lovegood

This is a rewrite of something I wrote a few years back that I was prompted to edit by Victoria C. Slotto’s prompt on dVerse about fictional characters. I’m too late to add it to their links, but I thought I’d post it anyway.  All the Harry Potter fans out there (and aren’t we all?) will understand it.  Need I mention that Luna Lovegood is one of my favorite fictional characters?  😉

I live to see your misty eyes

And hear your dreamy voice

It’s like I’m under the Imperius curse

And I have no other choice

Sitting beside the lake

Drinking dirigible plum tea with you

While reading each other The Quibbler

Is all I want to do

For you I would fight Death Eaters

And He Who Must Not Be Named

Or walk the Forbidden Forest

Til all it’s creatures I had tamed

Take my hand and we’ll fly away

Upon a thestral’s back

And spend forever searching together

For the crumplehorned snorkack

Tell me, tell me, Luna

Anything and I’ll believe you

Show me, show me, Luna

All the magic you can do

Love me, love me, Luna

‘Cause you know I love you

Such A Bore

**This is another song lyric written in August 1996…In case you’re wondering why I’ve been posting all this old stuff, it’s because I’ve been spending most of my writing time lately working on a new novel rather than writing poetry.  But never fear.  There will be more new poetry!**

Boredom runs us over like a slow train

Sucking all the energy from my brain

Nothing elevates our lives anymore

Something is the nothing we’re looking for

 

Take me under and hide me in you

End this endless nothing to do

Take me with you and set me free

Name this nameless picture of me

 

Boredom pulls us down like a slow disease

The blood inside my veins is starting to freeze

Thaw me with your blurry warming lips

There’s something I might find in your fingertips

 

Take me down and hide me in you

Face this faceless nothing to do

There’s no progress, my blood is slowing

Change this changeless tired wind blowing

 

Give me something more

Show me what’s in store

This is such a bore

This is such a bore

Burn me to the core

My heart has been tore

This is such a bore

This is such a bore

No One Ever Will

**This is a song lyric I wrote in April 1996 and then pretty much forgot about.  I just recently re-read it and found I liked it much more now than I did then.**

What ever happened to you

When you were on your own?

Did you fall off the blank side of life?

How’d you get back

To join with the hordes?

Did you color in the blank side of life?

 

What did you make of it?

Did you make it good?

What did you make of it

When no one else would?

 

No one ever will but you

It’s always up to you

No one’s gonna make the way for you

No one ever will but you

 

Where did you go

When you were lonely and cold?

Were you lost on the dark side of life?

How’d you find your way

Without losing yourself?

Did you set fire to the dark side of life?

 

What did you make of it?

Did you make it good?

What did you make of it

When no one else would?

 

No one ever will but you

It’s all left up to you

No one’s gonna make your life for you

No one ever will but you

Sun Could Shine

**Song lyric written October 1994**

 

The sun could shine

But not today

The sun can’t shine

While your away

Beams may poke

Through the clouds for a while

But what’s the use

Just remembering your smile

 

The sun may shine

But it won’t feel the same

The sky hasn’t changed

But it’s a different game

There’s nothing left

That feels like it did then

It’s been too long

To ever be that way again

 

Maybe the sun should never shine

The sky should be dark all the time

Maybe the sun should never shine

We’re not the sunshine kind

Maybe the sun should never shine

Why shouldn’t the sky be blind?

Maybe the sun should never shine

We’re not the sunshine kind

Are we?

Your Ghost

**Song lyric written September 1995**

 

I know you don’t exist

You died long ago

But your ghost like so many others

Can still haunt me though

 

Spirits wander ’round this town

Met one the other day

But you still terrify me most

When you pass my way

 

But you know

You know

 

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And find out why you died

Did you fade away or were you changed

By something that you tried

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And find out where you went to

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And find out where I lost you

 

Sometimes I’ll see you floating by

With somebody else

Sometimes I’ll just catch a glimpse

When I’m all by myself

 

I knew you in another life

Not so long ago

I may have died too in that time

But I’ve resurrected though

 

And you know

You know

 

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And find out who you are

Did you see Heaven or find Hell?

Or didn’t you go that far?

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And talk about where we’ve been

I’d like to get to know your ghost

And come to life again

Monkey

**This is a punk rock song I wrote in February 1996 about taking control of your life and getting rid of the proverbial “monkey on your back”, whatever it may be.**

 

My anorexic flower

Do you know who you are?

Waiting every hour

In someone else’s car

It’s not hard to explain yourself

Even though it should be

It’s not hard to destroy yourself

Even though it should be

 

Something’s got you, pulling down

Something’s got you, dragging down

Something’s got you by the wrist

Turn the other into a fist

Reach out and touch someone

 

Something’s got you giving in

Something’s got you caving in

Something’s got you doing again

Take the gloves off and fight to win

Reach out and stop someone

 

Something’s got you doing this

Something’s got you feeling pissed

Something’s got you on the ground

Whip the bastard’s head around

Reach out and stop yourself

 

Kill your monkey

Kill your monkey

Kill your monkey

Before he kills you

To Be An Artist

**A rather sarcastic song lyric I wrote February 1996.  I never did write any music for it, but I always imagined it with a Nine Inch Nails sort of sound.**

So you want to be a poet, boy?

Suffer

So you want to be an artist, boy?

Suffer

So you want to know true love, boy?

Suffer

 

A little masochist inside yourself

Is the burning ember on the shelf

You may die in cynicism

Thinking self destruction is the path to wisdom

Never forget your pleasures or pains

But don’t allow yourself the meagerest gains

Contemplate and over-analyze everything

Enlightenment comes of suffering

 

So you want to be good, boy?

Suffer

So you want to taste brilliance, boy?

Suffer

You say you want to know the answers, boy?

Suffer

Nothing Changes

**I’ve been thinking about posting some old song lyrics I wrote back in the 90’s when my friends and I had a band.  I really like some of them a lot, and it’s kind of a shame to leave them buried in a drawer in an old notebook.  This one was written in October 1996**

 

I’m feeling

Just a little deluded

Emotionally excluded

Socially precluded

And it’s all

Stuff that I’ve felt before

 

I’m seeing

Myself falling for the tricks

Hit by a ton of bricks

My heart maybe turning sick

And it’s all

Stuff that I’ve seen before

 

The more life has progressed

The more I have regressed

Turning around again

Falling on the ground again

Doing what I’ve done before

Doing what I’ve done

‘Cause nothing changes

 

I’m feeling

Just a little out of touch

Leaning on you as a crutch

In love with you (as such)

And it’s all

Stuff that I’ve felt before

 

I’m learning

Lessons I know by heart

But I’m still not so smart

Returning to the start

And it’s all

Stuff that I’ve learned before

 

The more life has progressed

The more I have regressed

Turning around again

Falling on the ground again

Doing what I’ve done before

Doing what I’ve done

‘Cause nothing changes