"Candy came from out on the Island In the backroom she was everybody's darlin' But she never lost her head Even when she was giving head She says, Hey babe Take a walk on the wild side"

"Life's like a mayonnaise soda And life's like space without room And life's like bacon and ice cream That's what life's like without you"

"And I feel just like Jesus' son"

"You can't depend on a beginning You can't depend on an end You can't depend on intelligence... You can only depend on one thing You need a busload of faith to get by... You can't depend on any churches Unless there's real estate you want to buy You can't depend on a lot of things You need a busload of faith to get by... You can depend on cruelty Crudity of thought and sound... You need a busload of faith to get by, ha"

"This room cost 2,000 dollars a month You can believe it man it's true Somewhere a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants No one here dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or anything They dream of dealing on the dirty boulevard Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I'll piss on 'em That's what the Statue of Bigotry says Your poor huddled masses, let's club 'em to death And get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard"

"And Romeo had Juliette And Juliette had her Romeo I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag With Latin written on it that says "it's hard to give a shit these days" Manhattan's sinking like a rock Into the filthy Hudson what a shock They wrote a book about it They said it was like ancient Rome"

"The news I feared the most, pales in comparison to the lump in my throat and the hollow in my stomach. Two kids have a chance meeting and 47 years later we fight and love the same way – losing either one is incomprehensible. No replacement value, no digital or virtual fill . . . broken now, for all time. Unlike so many with similar stories – we have the best of our fury laid out on vinyl, for the world to catch a glimpse. The laughs we shared just a few weeks ago, will forever remind me of all that was good between us. — John Cale about Reed's death"

"It always bothers me to see people writing 'RIP' when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, 'RIP' is the microwave dinner of posthumous honors."

"Of course. All the best people are."

"He's probably the single most untalented person I've heard in my life. He's a two-bit pretentious academic, and he can't play rock'n'roll, because he's a loser. And that's why he dresses up funny. He's not happy with himself, and I think he's right."

"This is the impossible level, boys. Impossible doesn't mean very difficult, very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize, impossible is eating the sun."

"Anyone that gets to side four is dumber than I am."

"Nothing beats 2 guitars, drum and bass."

"LR: "Are you political, Lou? Audience: "Yeah, are you?" LR:"Political about what? You give me an issue, I'll give you a tissue and you can wipe my ass with it.""

"Fuck Radio Ethiopia man, I'm Radio Brooklyn!"

"My week beats your year."

"The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (youtube)"

"Lou Reed - Sweet Jane (youtube)"

"Some people, they like to go out dancin' And other people, they have to work ... And there's even some evil mothers Who'll tell you everything is just dirt You know that women never really faint That villains always blink their eyes, ooh That children are the only ones who blush And that life is just to die But anyone who ever had a heart They wouldn't turn around and break it And anyone who ever played a part Oh, they wouldn't turn around and hate it ... They say Jane, Sweet Jane, oh woah, Sweet Jane, Sweet Jane Heavenly wine and roses seem to whisper to her, hey, when she smiles"

"And Pontiff, pretty Pontiff Can anyone shake your hand? Or is it just that you like uniforms and someone kissing your hand"

"So I walk like I'm on a mission cuz that's the way I groove. I got more and more to do, I got less and less to prove. It took me too long to realize that I don't take good pictures Cuz I have the kind of beauty that moves."

"Now let's get talking: reefer madness. Like some arrogant government can't, By any stretch of the imagination, outlaw a plant."

"And God help you if you are a phoenix, and you dare to rise up from the ash. A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy, while you're just flying past."

"Girl, next time he wants to know What your problem is Next time he wants to know Where the anger comes from Just tell him this time the problem's his Tell him the anger just comes It just comes."

"You've got your whole life to do something, And that's not very long. So why don't you give me a call When you're willing to fight For what you think is real, For what you think is right."

"Because I know the biggest crime Is just to throw up your hands And say "This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can."

"People used to make records, as in the record of an event, the event of people playing music in a room, and now everything's cross-marketing, its about sunglasses and shoes, or guns and drugs that you choose.""

"We have to be able to criticize what we love, Say what we have to say, 'Cause if you're not trying to make something better, Then as far as I can tell, you are just in the way."

"But what if no one's watching? What if when we're dead, we are just dead? What if there's no time to lose? What if there's things we gotta do, Things that need to be said?"

"I always feel I have to take a stand, And there's always someone on hand To hate me for standing there. I always feel I have to open my mouth, And every time I do, I offend someone, somewhere."

"When we patch things up, They say a job well done. But when we ask the question why Where did the rips come from?, They say we are subversive, And extreme, of course. We are just trying to track a problem to its source."

"I am looking for the holes, The holes in your jeans Because I want to know: Are they worn out in the seat, Or are they worn out in the knees?"

"She says “Do I know you?” I say “Well, no, not biblically, But I've been waiting for you to come and talk to me. I have been playing too many of those boy-girl games.” She says, “Honey, you are safe here. This is a girl-girl thing.”"

"Sometimes the beauty is easy. Sometimes you don't have to try at all. Sometimes you can hear the wind blow in a handshake. Sometimes there's poetry written right on the bathroom wall."

"I think you're the least fucked-up person I've ever met, And that may be as close to the real thing as I'm ever gonna get."

"I know there is strength in the differences between us, And I know there is comfort where we overlap."

"I always wanted to be commander-in-chief of my one-woman army, But I can envision the mediocrity of my finest hour."

"I still define myself by the places that I've been."

"Love sets fire to your schedule, And then calls an end to time."

"I remember now how our bright spring green deepened. With the years the seasons changed, And we were lush as the underside of August."

"I fight with love, and I laugh with rage. You've gotta live light enough to see the humor, And long enough to see some change."