I want to be black
Have natural rhythm
Shoot twenty feet of jism, too
And fuck up Jews
I want to be black
I want to be a Panther

Have a girlfriend named Samantha
And have a stable of foxy whores
Oh I want to be black

[Chorus:]
I don't want to be a fucked up, middle class,
College student anymore
I just want to have a stable of foxy little whores
Yeah, yeah I want to be black

I want to be black
I want to be like Martin Luther King
And get myself shot in spring
And lead a whole generation too
And fuck up the Jews

I want to be black, I want to be like Malcolm X
And cast a hex over President Kennedy's tomb
And have a big prick, too

[Chorus]

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I Wanna Be Black Lyrics as written by Lou Reed Lewis Allen Reed

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Yes, this is clearly a send-up of an embarrassing aspect of white American culture in the 1970s, but I don't think Reed is just putting down other people's unwitting racism; I think he's also poking fun at his younger self. In some of those early recordings he was obviously trying to sound black. And when he says "I don't wanna be a fucked up middle-class college student anymore" I think he has some sympathy for that foolish student, because he was that person once. The "fuck up the Jews" line adds both a serious note -- he's taking a big risk there, acknowledging an uncomfortable truth about guys like Farrakhan -- and a rather heartbreaking, poignant note, because Reed was Jewish himself, and I think that in his youth he was a little ashamed of that. Antisemitism was so pervasive in American culture that he couldn't help but internalize it to some degree. His own father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed, downplaying his Jewishness in order to fit in. Anyway, this is the kind of song that could so easily be misconstrued, and I think he knew that, but he had to write it anyway, because it was the truth, and no artist worth his salt avoids telling the truth just because it's risky.

Yes, this is clearly a send-up of an embarrassing aspect of white American culture in the 1970s, but I don't think Reed is just putting down other people's unwitting racism; I think he's also poking fun at his younger self. In some of those early recordings he was obviously trying to sound black. And when he says "I don't wanna be a fucked up middle-class college student anymore" I think he has some sympathy for that foolish student, because he was that person once. The "fuck up the Jews" line adds both a serious note -- he's taking a big risk there, acknowledging an uncomfortable truth about guys like Farrakhan -- and a rather heartbreaking, poignant note, because Reed was Jewish himself, and I think that in his youth he was a little ashamed of that. Antisemitism was so pervasive in American culture that he couldn't help but internalize it to some degree. His own father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed, downplaying his Jewishness in order to fit in. Anyway, this is the kind of song that could so easily be misconstrued, and I think he knew that, but he had to write it anyway, because it was the truth, and no artist worth his salt avoids telling the truth just because it's risky.

Reason:

rosalyreon April 26, 2014 Link
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@rosalyre

I wish we could edit our comments. I should have said "angry note" rather than "serious note" above. Also, that "fuck up the Jews" line shows how people tend to oversimplify. Black people aren't perfect, black people aren't immune from prejudice, any more than white people are; but stereotypes and nuance don't mix, and that's why that line is funny, because it comes as a surprise.

rosalyreon April 26, 2014

@rosalyre good posts - I’m always curious about Lou and his Jewishness - I can never recall him acknowledging it, and since most of the media coverage on LR in his heyday was about when he would die and whether or not he’d beat Keith Richards to the grave, I guess nobody ever thought to ask lol. Also, I think MAYBE the “fuck up the Jews” line hints that Lou is singing about other people, not himself. Not necessarily...but probably. The matter-of-fact way the line “and fuck up the Jews” makes me believe Lou was digging into the way white kids were really into superficialities, they don’t REALLY want to BE black, they just want to have a “stable of foxy whores”, and as long as they can have what THEY want (pussy - all black guys are pimps, have you not heard?), it’s ok if the Jews get fucked up. Not sure f that will make sense to anyone. But good posts! 

force263on February 09, 2019