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Lou Reed : Growing Up In Public
1980

  1. How Do You Speak To An Angel?
  2. My Old Man
  3. Keep Away
  4. Growing Up In Public
  5. Standing On Ceremony

  6. So Alone
  7. Love Is Here To Stay
  8. The Power Of Positive Drinking
  9. Smiles
  10. Think It Over
  11. Teach The Gifted Children

How Do You Speak To An Angel?

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A son who is cursed with a harridan mother Or a weak simpering father at best Is raised to play out the timeless classical motives Of filial love and incest
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How does he speak to a
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How does he speak to the prettiest girl
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How does he talk to her
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What does he say for an opening line
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What does he say if he's shy What do you do with your pragmatic passions With your classically neurotic style How do you deal with your vague self-comprehension What do you do when you lie How do you speak to a How do you speak to the prettiest girl How do you speak to her How do you dance on the head of a pin When you're on the outside looking in |
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| How do you speak to a How do you speak to the prettiest girl How do you speak to a How do you speak to the prettiest girl ...

My Old Man

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When I was a young boy in Brooklyn, going to public school During recess in the concrete playground, they lined us up by twos In alphabetical order, Reagan, Reed and Russo, I still remember the names And stickball and stoopball were the only games that we played
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And I wanted to be like my old man
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I, I wanted to grow up just like my old man
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I wanted to be like my old man
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I wanted to dress like
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I wanted to be just like
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I wanted to act like my old man I wanted to be like I wanted to act like I wanted to be just like my old man And then like everyone else I started to grow And I didn't want to be like my father anymore I was sick of his bullying, and having to hide under a desk on the floor And when he beat my mother it made me so mad I could choke And I didn't want to be like my old man I, I didn't even want to look like my old man I didn't even want to seem like my old man A son watches his father Being cruel to his mother And makes a vow to return only when He is so much richer In every way so much bigger That the old man will never hit anyone again |
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Like my old man (just like my old man) Like my old man Like my old man (just like my old man) Like my old man And can you believe what he said to me He said, "Lou, act like a man" (walk like a man) Why don't you act just like a man Act like your daddy, act like a man (just like my old man) Oh, why don't you act just like a man Like your old man (walk like a man) (Just like my old man) (Just like my old man)

Keep Away

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You keep your jealousy and your snide remarks to yourself
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You know that I'm not seeing anybody else
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You just keep your ear down to the ground
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Yell your head off if you hear a sound
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And here's a whistle and a badge and a phone
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You can arrest me if I'm not at home
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And if I don't keep my word I swear I'll keep away |
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Here's some books and a puzzle by Escher Here's Shakespeare's "Measure For Measure" Here's a balloon, a rubber band and a bag Why don't you blow them up, if you think you've been had Here's a castle, a paper dragon and a moat An earring, a toothbrush and a cloak And if I don't keep my word I swear I'll keep away
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I swear I'll keep away from all we've ever done
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I'll keep away the good times and I'll keep away the fun
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I swear I'll join the army or maybe the marines
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I'll start to wear designer suits and put away my jeans I swear that I'll keep away from all my old-time friends I'll throw away my records I'll try to make amends I swear I'll give up gambling and playing with the rent I'll give up food and drinking, I'll give up a life ill-spent |
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Here's a yardstick you can measure me by Here's a coupon, maybe there's something you want to buy Here's a band-aid in case you cut your feet Here's a rubber mallet you can use on your front teeth Here's a gun no one uses anymore And a bracelet made of some inexpensive ore And if I don't keep my word You won't see me anymore I swear I'll keep away from dignity and pride I'll keep away from abstracts, I'll keep it all inside Well I'll just wrap me up in butter and melt me on a shelf I'll fry in my own juices, I'll become somebody else Well I'll just swear to keep away from everything that's good I'll lie down in the gutter where I really should I swear I'll light a candle to every modern foe I swear I'll close the book on this and not see you anymore 'Cause I just got to get away |
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Growing Up In Public

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Some people are into the power of power The absolute corrupting power, that makes great men insane While some people find their refreshment in action The manipulation, encroachment and destruction of their inferiors
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Growing up in public Growing up in public Growing up in public Growing up in public with your pants down Some people are into their sadistic pleasures They whet your desires and they drool in your ears They're quasi-effeminate characters In love with oral gratification They edify your integrity, so they can play on your fears And they're gonna do it in public 'Cause you're growing up in public They're gonna do it to you in public 'Cause you're growing up in public with your pants down |
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Some people think being a man is unmanly And then some people think that whole concept's a joke But some people think being a man is the whole point And then some people wish they'd never awoke Up from a dream of nightmarish proportions Down to a size neither regal nor calm A Prince Hamlet caught the middle Between reason and instinct Caught in the middle with your pants down again Caught in the middle I'm really caught in the middle I'm caught in the middle Caught in the middle, baby, deciding about you

Standing On Ceremony

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Remember your manners
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Will you please take your hat off?
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Your mother is dying
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Listen to her cough
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We were always standing on ceremony We were always standing on ceremony |
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Can't you show some respect please Although you didn't in real life Your mother is dying And I god damn well hope you're satisfied We were always standing on ceremony We were always standing on ceremony
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So please play another song on that juke box Please play another pretty sad song for me And if that phone rings, tell them that you haven't seen me If that last phone rings, tell them that you haven't seen me for weeks And this one here's on me |
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| Standing on ceremony, standing on ceremony Standing on ceremony, standing on ceremony Standing on ceremony, you were always standing on ceremony (Standing, on ceremony) (Standing, on ceremony) (Standing, on ceremony) (Standing, on ceremony) (Standing, on ceremony) (Standing, on ceremony) ...

So Alone

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She calls on the phone
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She says she doesn't want to be alone
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She says it's making her neurotic
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But please don't mistake it for being erotic
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So alone, so all alone She says let's go for a walk We'll have a drink and maybe we will talk And he thinks she has possibilities If she could just put away her rosary So alone, nobody wants to be alone
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But I just didn't know
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I swear to you, I just didn't know
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I would never make you sad
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If I had known I never would have said those things to you
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You have to be crazy to say those things to you Let's face it I made a mistake Well you know, fools rush in where angels take a break I can't be smart all of the time And anyway I didn't know you were making time over him To tell you the truth, I forget all about him And you know, I don't think it's nice Asking one man about another man's vice I don't care if you pick my head As long as we end up in bed Alone, just the two of us alone I just didn't know I swear to God, I just didn't know Can't you understand that it's frightening When you hear women talking about castrating and hating men Who wants to know about how you hate men? |
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Well, you said now you wanted to dance
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So now we're going to dance
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You said that you weren't complete
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But we're going to put you on your feet
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You said that you were very vexed
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You told me to forget about sex
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You said you liked me for my mind
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Well, I really love your behind
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Oh, get up and boogie, oh baby, get up and dance
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Oh, get, get, get, get up and boogie, baby, oh, get up and dance
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Shake your booty, mama, oh, get up and dance Your points very clear You're not one to cry into your beer Why don't we go to my place Believe me, I'm very chaste And I'm so alone, so all alone Sure all men are beasts Hey, look, I'll sit here quietly and I'll stare at my feet I don't blame you for taking umbrage With animals staring at your cleavage So alone, we're so all alone Hey, do you mind if I turn out the light Don't take offense, but why don't you spend the night I know your passions run very deep But at this point we both need sleep
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So alone, and who wants to be alone

Love Is Here To Stay

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Love is here, here to stay
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Love is here, here to stay
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It gets proven every day
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Love is here, here to stay
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They both love Chinese food, he hates to dress He loves to play pinball, she wants to play next She likes her novels long, he's into comic books They're gilt-edged polymorphous urban but somehow it works 'Cause love is here, here to stay Love is here, here to stay It gets proven every day Love is here, here to stay She likes Truman Capote, he likes Gore Vidal He likes Edgar Allan Poe, she's into Mean Joe Greene She thinks eating meat's disgusting, he likes hot dogs She's into Gestalt therapy, while est and the rest just make him ill
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| But love is here to stay |
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| Love is here, here to stay Love is here, here to stay It gets proven every day Love is here, here to stay Love is here, here to stay Love is here, here to stay It gets proven every day Love is here, here to stay

The Power Of Positive Drinking

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Some like wine and some like hops
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But what I really love is my scotch
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It's the power, the power of positive drinking Some people ruin their drinks with ice And then they, they ask you for advice They tell you, I've never told anyone else before They say, Candy is dandy but liquor makes quipsters And I don't like mixers, or sippers or sob sisters You know, you have to be real careful where you sit down in a bar these days And then some people drink to unleash their libidos And other people drink to prop up their egos It's my burdon, man, people say I have the kind of face you can trust
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The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking
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The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
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The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
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The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive
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The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking Some people say, alcohol makes you less lucid And think that's true if you're kind of stupid I'm not that kind that get's himself burned twice And some say liquor kills the cells in your head And for that matter so does getting out of bed When I exit, I'll go out gracefully, shot in my hand The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive The pow-pow-pow-pow-power of positive drinking

Smiles

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Smiles, I was taught never to smile
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I was told the stylish smiles of buffoonery and chicanery and larceny abound
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My mom said unless someone sticks you right in front of a camera
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A smile is the last thing that you wanna do
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Those smiles, those mirthless toothy smiles Smiles, they all smile on TV The quizmaster with his withered crones The talkshow hosting movie stars, the politician licking feet The mugger, the rapist, the arsonist lover All smile out from the news, at one time or another Those smiles, those garish sickly smiles When I was young my mother said to me Never, ever, let anyone see that you're happy |
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| ... Smiles, never, ever let them see you smile They'll always put you down With those smiles, never, ever let them see you smile They'll always put you down With your smiles, never, ever let them see you smile Don't you know they'll make you go Doo doo-doo...

Think It Over

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Waking, he stared raptly at her face
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On his lips, her smell, her taste
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Black hair framing her perfect face
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With her wonderful mind and her incredible grace
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And so, he woke, he woke her with a start
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To offer her his heart, once and for all, forever to keep
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And the words, that she first heard him speak
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Were really very sweet, he was asking her to marry him, and to
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Think it over
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Baby, think it over
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Think it over
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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 everyone 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

Teach The Gifted Children

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Teach the gifted children Teach them to have mercy Teach them about sunsets Teach them about moonrise Teach them about anger The sin that comes with dawning Teach them about flowers And the beauty of forgetfulness
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Then take me to the river (Take me to the river) And put me in the water (And put me in the water) Bless them and forgive them (Take me to the river) Father cause they just don't know (Take me to the river) All the gifted children Teach the gifted children The way of men and animals Teach them about cities The history of the mysteries Their vice and their virtues About branches that blow in the wind On the wages of their sins Teach them of forgiveness Teach them about mercy Teach them about music And the cool and cleansing waters What do they say? Take me to the river (Take me to the river) Take me to the river (Take me to the river) Put me in the water (Take me to the river) And teach the gifted children (Take me to the river) All the gifted children (Take me to the river) (Take me to the river) (Take me to the river)