Beginning to See the Light

Of course this is about the person in the song suddenly coming to a conclusion or realization of a state of enlightenment or truth. I think I've lived this song during a short brief and perhaps regrettable time in my life, so let me explain some things that people have not noticed or overlooked so far:

Beginning to see the light works in two ways. One as explained before and another that is more apparent by observing the next section of the song. It is quite a literal interpretation: he is beginning to see the light, as in sun up. As any night owl knows, when the sun comes up, it's definitely time for bed. You might first initially think the person wakes up in the morning and drinks wine and then later at night eats breakfast... no, he sleeps all day, wakes up at night, eats breakfast, is up until sunrise, enjoys the peace and solitude of the wee morning with some wine. It's a backwards life, acting the fool, playing but not acting hard, not working hard...

I think Lou Reed enjoys double meanings but tries about 80% of the time to execute with literal meanings. Such is the "one is black and one is blue" line. We all first think of pairing "black and blue" as a bruise. And the idea of getting beat is probably not too far from his intent. However, one is black and one is blue. One side is dark and dismal and the other is sad and blue... not very good alternatives. He refers to "two of you" but I think this is the person in the song's self in his dream asking which of the two to be. The two options aren't the best, so the person is confused.

I wonder if that's the same light 'that never goes out'

My take on it is, and it makes a lot of sense, is that it is a relationship. Lets just pretend we know its a man and a woman. In the first passage it is where he starts to realize that it is a waste of time to work the relationship out because it may never work and he might as well keep on partying and havinga good time. Then when he starts acting shady she is telling them that he is being foolish and acting hard, haha obviously. All Right! is his response, kind of saying it in an apathetic manor but then expresses to us that he wants to tell her that he is over it but he is "holding his teeth in his hands" or keeping his mouth shut so that they don't fight. The "It comes very softly" and "It comes softer" is him telling us he is letting her down gently. When she says "here comes two of you. Which one will you choose?" she wants him to chose between the him that would leave her and move on with his carefree life and the him that wants to work on it. The last passage of his lets us know that he still really wants to break up and the "ah, it's getting a little softer, maybe, in there" is where the actual break up occours. The "Ah its coming around again" and of coarse the great line "There are problems in these times, but wooo, none of them are mine" instill that he is happy with his decision. Then in the very last passage, it is her asking how it feels to be loved, she wouldn't know, because he didn't express love for her and took the easy way out. She expresses dissapointment in his actions when she says "Here we go again, I thought that you were my friend".

Yeah, I love this song! It's so great! It feels like the ignorant man's happiness (sarcastic i suppose)..: "There are problems in these times, but woo! None of them are mine..! Oh baby I'm beginning to see the light". Like it was a great enlightment to understand that you'll live in bliss once you don't care..

I like the way it says "wine in the morning and some breakfast at night". It sort of says just do what you want and don't care about anyone else and you'll be happy. I don't think it's sarcastic, I think that it's just describing one mood that everyone probably feels at some point. Really though I think it's impossible to not care about anyone else.

did anyone ever notice how many songs are about dreams?

watch waking life.

Definitely one of the Velvet Underground's more optimistic songs.

I wouldn't say it's completely an optimistic song, Dreamlandscape described it very well. To me, it's very much like Sunday Morning, with the descriptions of paranoia. I feel like it's ignorance is bliss but then there's a realization there too, going back and forth with trust in relationships. The self-titled VU album is more subtle its own very beautiful ways.

I meant also to say, it seems to have a rather neutral tone, I guess its a recurring thing that happens in a lot of VU songs.

The characters enlightenment is shortlived, after the euphoria of "seeing the light" wears off, he still wonders how it feels to be loved.