6 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Ballad of Lou the Welterweight Lyrics
Powder your nose, pull off your pantyhose
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
Before the bell would ring he had a way like Errol Flynn
As he sauntered to the ring with a sheet on
But the late rounds scared the girl, Heaven knows she thought the world of Lou
It was hard to see him swaying in the neon
Joey was a no-one, just some big dumb kid from Flushing
He had a face like an ugly bull, always pouting
He hit Louie kind of low and he stumbles on the ropes
As the bookies blocked the rows, shouting
Powder your nose, pull off your pantyhose
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
The blows were hard and loud, he could hardly hear the crowd
In the bleachers where they howled, they were cheering
I remember in the eighth, it was clear that Lou was fading
When something caught his eye by the ceiling
He saw her as she spoke through the shifty yellow smoke
She said, "Louie, you look bad, are you dying?"
But Louie could not answer, his eyes were cast up to the rafters
And then they slowly sealed in silence
Powder your nose, pull off your pantyhose
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
As he sauntered to the ring with a sheet on
But the late rounds scared the girl, Heaven knows she thought the world of Lou
It was hard to see him swaying in the neon
Joey was a no-one, just some big dumb kid from Flushing
He had a face like an ugly bull, always pouting
He hit Louie kind of low and he stumbles on the ropes
As the bookies blocked the rows, shouting
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
In the bleachers where they howled, they were cheering
I remember in the eighth, it was clear that Lou was fading
When something caught his eye by the ceiling
He saw her as she spoke through the shifty yellow smoke
She said, "Louie, you look bad, are you dying?"
But Louie could not answer, his eyes were cast up to the rafters
And then they slowly sealed in silence
Let me love you from behind, my Darling
Powder your nose, pull on your pantyhose
We're going down to my bout, my Darling
Song Info
Submitted by
steph2007 On Nov 30, 2007
More The Felice Brothers
Frankie's Gun
Your Belly In My Arms
Don't Wake The Scarecrow
Love Me Tenderly
Goddamn You, Jim
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
"we're goin down to my bout" "he had a way like errol flynn" "but the late rounds scared the girl" "in the bleechers where they howled" just a few corrections...great song
Great song. Is Lou a fictional character or a famous boxer? In a way, the song reminds me of Jake LaMotta, the Raging Bull, just because of his attitude towards the job at hand. Lou is a washed up fighter in his last days, trying to get paid however he can, for a sport that's passing him by. Obviously, Joey has been setup to win his final bout and Lou is trying to come off as confident and ready as ever, but during the bout, his wife/girlfriend knows something is wrong. I think the song is really about Lou waking up on the day he knows he'll fight his last fight but not wanting the only person he cares about suspect anything, and she ends up being the only person who knows him well enough to see what's going on. The line "Louie, you look bad, are you dying?" really paints a picture.
I saw The Felice Brothers this past weekend. If you get a chance to see them live you should go. Anyway, before this song Ian said that it was a true story about the death of a boxer named Lethal Lou. I don't know if that is true or not but that's how he introduced it. I haven't found anything about a Lethal Lou but I guess he could have been a local legend or something.
I saw The Felice Brothers this past weekend. If you get a chance to see them live you should go. Anyway, before this song Ian said that it was a true story about the death of a boxer named Lethal Lou. I don't know if that is true or not but that's how he introduced it. I haven't found anything about a Lethal Lou but I guess he could have been a local legend or something.
The chorus has the most coherent lyrics so I thought this song was about rough sex for the longest time.
Correction - "He hit Louie kind of low and he fumbled on the ropes"
kudos to the felice boys
who else can ever write a beautiful love song about doin it doggie style
I thought that the song is not really about doing it doggy-style. I just think it shows us that it's not really good to have sex before a fight.
Whatever the song might say about sex - it's still one of the saddest songs I've ever heard and the way it focusses on the moment that Lou is dying is just written in an awesome way. Great lyrics.