I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, one, two, five
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
I'm waiting for my man

Hey, white boy, what you doin' uptown?
Hey, white boy, you chasin' our women around?
Oh pardon me sir, it's the furthest from my mind
I'm just lookin' for a dear, dear friend of mine
I'm waiting for my man

Here he comes, he's all dressed in black
Beat up shoes and a big straw hat
He's never early, he's always late
First thing you learn is that you always gotta wait
I'm waiting for my man, ah work it now

Up to a brownstone, up three flights of stairs
Everybody body's pinned you, but nobody cares
He's got the works, gives you sweet taste
Ah then you gotta split because you got no time to waste
I'm waiting for my man

Baby don't you holler, darlin' don't you bawl and shout
I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
I'm feeling good, I feel oh so fine
Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time
I'm waiting for my man, walk it home


Lyrics submitted by capitol76

I'm Waiting for the Man Lyrics as written by Lou Reed

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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I'm Waiting for the Man song meanings
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    General Comment

    Yes the person in the song (we can safely assume Lou writes from personal experiene) is going to the corner of Lexington and 125th to score heroin. You can get the subway up there (4,5,6 I believe) which is part of its appeal as a drug dealing area. It's uptown (as the 2nd verse points out) in Harlem hence the African-American men questioning why a white man would be so far uptown and obviously not a resident. Eventually "the man" (i.e. the dealer) shows and he shoots up at which point in spite of his woman yelling at him he doesn't care. At least until he comes down again.

    John_Caleon October 09, 2006   Link

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