This song, and it's companion, "Oh JIm" are the centerpieces to Lou Reed's 1973 concept album, Berlin. In the album, Reed tells the story of two doomed lovers, Jim, the primary narrator of the album, and Caroline, his drug addicted wife. Jim narrates the album as a retrospective, explaining how Caroline became dependent on the external validation of others (called "two-bit friends," by Jim) and became a drug addict, selling herself to get another fix. In the story arc of the album, this song occurs just after Jim discovers that Caroline has begun prostituting herself to support her growing amphetamine addiction. The song is posed as a series of searing questions: "How do you think it feels when all you can say is 'if only: if only I had a little, if only I had some change, if only, if only if only...'" Here Jim mocks Caroline's drug seeking behavior when she's desperate for a fix. The interjections in the song "Come 'ere baby - Come down here, Mama" presumably come from men attempting to pick up Caroline. The song contains two of the most searing lines ever written, in my opinion: "How do you think it feels when you've been up for five days, hunting around always, 'cause you're afraid of sleeping" and "How do you think it feels to always make love by proxy?" All in all, this is one of the crown jewels of the Berlin album, an under appreciated album that I think highlights some of Reed's best lyrics ever.
Is the song about Reed? Maybe, but probably not. He has held throughout the years that Berlin was an original work and not related to his life. Indeed, many of the songs were penned at discontinuous times in his life, and assembled and rewritten for the purpose of the album.
@landfillpoet i read or heard an interview with his gf at the time. she referred to a specific moment in the studio, when berlin was recorded, where - if i remember correctly - a collective creeping out ensued [if that's the right way of saying it] when they all got the notion that lou reed sang about their relationship. of course that doesn't mean that she wasn't projecting.
@landfillpoet i read or heard an interview with his gf at the time. she referred to a specific moment in the studio, when berlin was recorded, where - if i remember correctly - a collective creeping out ensued [if that's the right way of saying it] when they all got the notion that lou reed sang about their relationship. of course that doesn't mean that she wasn't projecting.
This song, and it's companion, "Oh JIm" are the centerpieces to Lou Reed's 1973 concept album, Berlin. In the album, Reed tells the story of two doomed lovers, Jim, the primary narrator of the album, and Caroline, his drug addicted wife. Jim narrates the album as a retrospective, explaining how Caroline became dependent on the external validation of others (called "two-bit friends," by Jim) and became a drug addict, selling herself to get another fix. In the story arc of the album, this song occurs just after Jim discovers that Caroline has begun prostituting herself to support her growing amphetamine addiction. The song is posed as a series of searing questions: "How do you think it feels when all you can say is 'if only: if only I had a little, if only I had some change, if only, if only if only...'" Here Jim mocks Caroline's drug seeking behavior when she's desperate for a fix. The interjections in the song "Come 'ere baby - Come down here, Mama" presumably come from men attempting to pick up Caroline. The song contains two of the most searing lines ever written, in my opinion: "How do you think it feels when you've been up for five days, hunting around always, 'cause you're afraid of sleeping" and "How do you think it feels to always make love by proxy?" All in all, this is one of the crown jewels of the Berlin album, an under appreciated album that I think highlights some of Reed's best lyrics ever.
Is the song about Reed? Maybe, but probably not. He has held throughout the years that Berlin was an original work and not related to his life. Indeed, many of the songs were penned at discontinuous times in his life, and assembled and rewritten for the purpose of the album.
@landfillpoet i read or heard an interview with his gf at the time. she referred to a specific moment in the studio, when berlin was recorded, where - if i remember correctly - a collective creeping out ensued [if that's the right way of saying it] when they all got the notion that lou reed sang about their relationship. of course that doesn't mean that she wasn't projecting.
@landfillpoet i read or heard an interview with his gf at the time. she referred to a specific moment in the studio, when berlin was recorded, where - if i remember correctly - a collective creeping out ensued [if that's the right way of saying it] when they all got the notion that lou reed sang about their relationship. of course that doesn't mean that she wasn't projecting.