In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now bleed for me
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now bleed for me
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
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i think it is bleed. gives me shivers down my spine when Lou sings that line. I sure hope it is bleed. plead would be less chilling to me.
Yeah it's about S&M, more specifically the story from the book 'Venus in Furs' which is basically about 'Severin', the slave and the girl he is obsessed with who he gets to mistreat him for pleasure. Then she falls for the 'Black Russian Prince' and blah blah, just a trashy novel as described by lou reed.
one of the best songs,
Of course it's about S&M. "Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather..." Man, I LOVE this song.
Venus in Furs was, off the top of my head, a book written by Baron Sadler-Masoch about his unusual relationship with a girl that eventually gave birth to the term 'Masochism', i.e., to gain sexual enjoyment from being hurt. I think 'Severin' might have been the name of a character from the book. Anyway, it's about S & M isn't it?
I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears
RIP Lou
Amazing song, the lyrics flow and fit perfectly with the rythem. And its spoken almost gently with a certain force in words.
anne rice- claiming of sleeping beauty. "i could sleep for a thousand years" i just read the series not too long ago and i was sitting hear reading the lyrics to this song and it just dawned on me. its exactly like those novels how sleeping beauty, after a thousand years sleep, is finally awaken by her prince who then takes her in as his sex slave. if you haven't read these books.. do.
i'm not saying that this is what the song is about.. just reminds me.<br />
@sierracg1 Interesting take on what the Star Wars trilogy could be really about
Everybody has already fleshed out the meaning at those point. Just wanted to add that just as much as the lyrics, John Cale's electric viola makes this song. The music is perfectly harsh and a perfect fit for for the lyrics.
I like to imagine what this sounded like in 1967. This was 2 years before Led Zeppelin, and the Velvets are singing about heroin and S&M and playing a screeching electric viola on this track and exploratory noise music in "European Son."
In addition to being brilliant, this was music that was decades ahead of its time, music that changed the world. Fuck yeah.
@tessa11834 <br /> Certainly a major shift in the rock paradigm. As for being 'ahead of their time', well, no they weren't. People always need to be awakened and The Velvet's bashed the lid in their sleeping faces. People have always dragged behind in their thoughts and actions. That's the state of humanity. Sad but rue. But the Lord works in hilarious ways
Severin isn't the guy's name, it's what his abusive aunt used to call him. Later in life, he finds a domanatrix and gets her to dress like his aunt, call him "Severin", and treat him like she did, because it turns him on or somehing.
I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears
...the greatest stanza ever written by the velvets....by anyone for that matter...i find this song as a definition for so much in my life...mainly because an order follows a choice and i just get pissed off about it...why should i care what others want...why should i care what i want...perception is a blackhole...wdc