Lou Reed Lyrics-23 – Hitch-hiked her way across the USA (from “Walk on the Wild Side”) (Now Playing Week 8)
Once upon a time … Oh, sorry! That’s how fairy tales start. And Walk on the Wild Side is definitely NOT a fairy tale.
It’s a true story about the weird and wonderful world of the Factory, Andy Warhol’s New York studio, and the many interesting and bizarre characters who populated it. It’s about those social deviants and the supposedly sordid adventures they engaged in at the Factory. As the documentary states (@ link below), the characters in this song were all real people. And as Lee Childers said, “The song is true. They really were on the wild side.”
Lou begins this tale by shocking us. An innocent young kid leaves home, starts hitch-hiking across the country, and then … becomes transgender. (And remember – this was way back in the early 1970s, not post-millennial.)
The "Holly" mentioned in the opening line was Holly Woodlawn, an actual person that Lou met at the Factory in the 1960s. And the characters of Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jackie were also real people. Lou simply documented their stories in this song, and set it to a smooth beat and pleasant rhythm.
It’s hard to believe that this song about deviant characters and taboo subjects became a Top 40 hit. The fact that it did is enough to bring a smile to the face of any Lou fan.
Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed …
Walk on the Wild Side: The People who Inspired Lou Reed's Classic Song …
Lou Reed, Anthology of Memorable Lyrics.
The story behind the song ... in 7 short videos (Walk on the Wild Side)
– Part 1 (10 minutes) …
– Part 2 (5 minutes) …
– Part 3 (5 minutes) …
– Part 4 (6 minutes) …
– Part 5 (5 minutes) …
– Part 6 (6 minutes) …
– Part 7 (5 minutes) …
Images sourced from Google Images
Thanks for entering this week's #nowplaying!
You should find a Lou Reed referral program one of these days.
I keep on thinking you're a great seller for the man :D
Cheers
Hmmm, I'm a lousy salesman. But then again, if one has a great product, the product sells itself.
Anyway, I have a network of hundreds of thousands of Steemians (and growing), so I think I'll do OK. ☺
Thanks for entering this week's #nowplaying!
Ah! I listen to this song so many times and I didn't know what was behind it. Thanks for sharing =)
My pleasure. Yep. There's a long, interesting story behind the song.
Have you tried hitch hiking?
Yep, I used to hitch-hike in Canada quite a bit in my teens. It was a great way to travel and meet people. (Altho sometimes not a very quick way to get around.)
I've never tried transgender, and given that I'm well into middle age, I'm sure I never will. ☺
hahaha a lot of transgender there in Thailand. Do you know how to recognize them now?
I've tried hitch hiking here in the Philippines but it wasn't a really long ride.
Good information provided by you regarding these songs.
Upvoted and Resteemed.
Thanks. Glad you find it interesting.
Thanks for this great article. You, the best, it turns out, the best to transfer the history of individual musical works. Thank you for that. Good luck to you and kind regards.
More musical history coming. I'm planning another series after this Lou Lyrics series is completed.
I couldn't watch all the videos because of network glitches but the two I watched were amazing and interesting. Music in most cases is based on rhythm rather than message.
The vids will always be here for your viewing pleasure.
Surely I'll have them watched.
Looks like Lee Childers said the right thing.
It seems lot of things happens in 1960s/1970s.
Nice post.
Its an interesting story video in old version is so beautiful I like old type movies and songs
You provide a good information regarding to this song keep it up