What goes on in your mind?
I think that I am falling down
What goes on in your mind?
I think that I am upside down
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will work alright
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will be alright

I'm going up, and I'm going down
I'm going to fly from side to side
See the bells up in the sky
Somebody's cut their string in two
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will work alright
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will be alright

One minute born, one minute doomed
One minute up and one minute down
What goes on in your mind?
I think that I am falling down
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will work alright
Baby, be good, do what you should
You know it will be alright


Lyrics submitted by capitol76, edited by zhizhumao, LizTenor

What Goes On Lyrics as written by Lou Reed

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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What Goes On song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    knowing VU this probably is about LSD or a gal that dumped Lou but I like to imagine it's about the listener. cause everyone's gone through something that's caused them to suffer, long-term I mean. most people suffer depression at one point in their life. so I just kind of imagine it to be Lou (and the guys + Maureen) trying to make us laugh but at the same time not treating it frivolously: "what goes onnnnn in your mind?" - like, what's happening!

    i used to be an avid VU listener but i recently went through (and am still going through) a phase in which i just don't have the patience for rock and proto-punk and all that; i've turned almost completely towards instrumental and folk. but today, I randomly had a craving for this! i was beginning to really dislike VU actually because of its morbidity in the first album and then its immaturity in their second (also present in 'heroin' on the first album though)- and these are the ones, like most other fans, that i adored most when i was in love with VU. they're the ones i bought... but now, if i were ever to go back to VU (and it's still possible) i would definitely choose their self-titled because I think they finally grew up ('jesus' is a perfect example! how simple and beautiful!) in it. it's also less cliched. some people would probably gawk at me for calling them cliched though for their first two albums though, lol. i think they're known for being ahead of their time for those. i guess they kind of were...

    othatzsokewlon March 05, 2011   Link

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