Heroin

Lou Reed

I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm goin' to try for the kingdom if I can
'cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
Then I tell you things aren't quite the same

When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like jesus' son
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know

I have made very big decision
I'm goin' to try to nullify my life
'cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death

You can't help me not you guys
All you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sailed the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
I put on a sailor's suit and cap

Away from the big city
Where a man cannot be free
Of all the evils in this town
And of himself and those around
Oh, and I guess I just don't know
Oh, and I guess I just don't know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I'm better off than dead

When the smack begins to flow
Then I really don't care anymore
About all the jim-jims in this town
And everybody putting everybody else down
And all of the politicians makin' crazy sounds
All the dead bodies piled up in mounds, yeah

Wow, that heroin is in my blood
And the blood is in my head
Yeah, the god's good as dead
Ooohhh, God that I'm not aware
I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know


Lyrics submitted by spliphstar

Heroin Lyrics as written by Lou Reed

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Heroin song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment
    i agree with johnny utah james 1234 sounds like some asshole from D.A.R.E. I was addicted to heroin because it made me feel like god was givin me a handjob all the time and jesus was there rubbing my tummy and patting my head. there is nothing that can compare to having your spine turn into cotton and just not giving a shit, like floating down a river on a mild day with no obligations. just floating, looking at the sky, thinking how cool it is that birds can fly, and thinking how comfy a cloud pillow would be. The only reason i do not like this song is because it makes me want to shoot up again.
    ilikehipposon February 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    lou reed is my hero..
    davey and goliathon May 23, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    this is the best song in the world
    velvet_undergroundon August 30, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    (heroin - rocknroll animal) At this point in time in my life when I had already grown up, but then agian, nothing was meaningful anymore, or something was meaningful.. The love of the other side, that is my love, and it took me only a month and a half of ever deeper experiences to find my health was deteriorating And all along i could break down and cry for this drug. this drug heroin was in my blood, and went through my neck.. into the center of my head... and i could hear the organs playing and the gentle arpeggios flowing and then all the sudden my heart would start to speed up as i was closing in on dying. as the blood begins to flow.. as it shoots across his neck.. and leads to a "center in my head" sung so accurately into my emotions i would cry everytime i lay there on my bed alone and i am better off dead and i can hear the organs playing and the guitars crying slowly in the center of my head the heroin glows into my life that was i cannot want it to go and better yet i am contented with the world but the pain is felt in my nose .. and in my veins and my organs inside my body is aching but i am in heaven time is now less timeless moment forever is until the pain shall grow but i will always be in heaven i will always be in heaven my tears will find their way into a new life and a new world long gone with this universe, long after this universe is gone my tears my tears will find there way into an eternity that i guess i just don't know i guess i just don't know
    lyricstudenton March 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    note to readers: i considered the ambiguity of whether or not I had actually taken heroin. Above, the reference to heroin is the song, not the drug. The intoxication was coming from whisky.. and it cutting through my digestive system after a month and a half of significant drinking. I'm not trying to be a druggy poser, but I wanted to right this addenda in case any hard core heroin user decided to write that I am faking my ailments, and I hadn't taken heroin.. I don't know the pains of heroin.. That's not the point of my heroin interpretation.
    lyricstudenton March 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    this song is a true success and noone needs to be a heroin addict in order to relate, the theme of the song is to be helpless , imcompotent and empty yet contest and transcending...Lou Reed's laughter and laid back voice are amazing work of art
    irynasigurwolfon February 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    content*
    irynasigurwolfon February 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I've never shot up, but this song is just beautiful to me. It's like an insider's look on th drug and its effects. It reminds me of Requiem for a Dream.
    musickon May 08, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    yeah this song is pretty tight, thats exactly how i feel when im fucking cooked i dont give a fuck about any of the fucked up shit everyone does every day while im all fucked up onm something stupid
    ezkamoon June 03, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    yeah this song is pretty tight, thats exactly how i feel when im fucking cooked i dont give a fuck about any of the fucked up shit everyone does every day while im all fucked up onm something stupid
    ezkamoon June 03, 2006   Link

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