Lyric discussion by AlanMcG 

Cover art for Pale Blue Eyes lyrics by Velvet Underground, The

Setting aside the fact that this song is about the sweet balm of heroin it is also about love and life.

Being about the same age as Lou (would be). I have a different reaction now to this song to when I was 18. For me it is the sad musings of an older man about meeting someone he hopelessly loved in his youth. An experience I recently had.

He knows her so well. Well enough to be pleased saddened and maddened by her. She was everything to him but could never be his. He remembers her eyes.

She was everything to him but the problem wasn't her but the world, If he could make the world like the strange enchanting vision he has in his mind they would be together.

He meets her years later after they have both lived a life. It's gone – stuff it in a cup. She says to him that their relationship is like money- it's worth something but it's inert and can't stand up. You've always had the wrong idea – down for you is up. She's saying he had value (she loved him) but he never did anything.

What they did yesterday is not an affair. It was the genuine love they had years ago. She married to find happiness which is what he wanted for her. She did what he wanted for her. That's why she's his best friend. The sin is they never consummated their love.