For Gay Pride Month: Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side

The first time I heard Lou Reed's "Walk on The Wild Side", I must have been 13 or 14 years old. I was sitting in a car with my dad and we were driving over the Walt Whitman bridge on our way to Philadelphia; when that part about 'the colored girls' came on, I remember dad rolling his eyes, switching the station, and saying, "That's enough of that crap."

That same day, when we were at my older cousin's house I asked him if he knew what that song was, the one about the colored girls going do, da, do... and the next thing I knew, my very cool cousin Jimmy (who worked in a record store at the time) handed me an 8-track it was Lou Reed's "Transformer".

Damn, but it took me a while to figure out what ...Wild Side was really all about ... and later on, I really got a kick out of all the straight people who seemed to like the song.

I'm not sure, but I think that ...Wild Side was the first top 20 songs to celebrate drag queens, male prostitutes, and the gay lifestyle.

Here then, is Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" complete with photos and links about the song's (true life) characters...

Holly came from Miami, F-L-A
Hitchhiked her way across the U-S-A
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
Said hey honey, take a walk on the wild side



Candy came from out on the Island
In the back room she was everybody's darlin'
But she never lost her head
Even when she was givin' head
She says hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
Said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side

And the colored girls go
Doo, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo doo...




Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New York City's the place where
They said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
They said hey Joe, take a walk on the wild side



Sugar plum fairy came and hit the streets
Lookin' for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the Apollo
You should have seen him go go go
They said hey Sugar, take a walk on the wild side
I said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
All right, huh




Jackie is just speedin' away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would've helped that bash
She said hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
I said hey honey, take a walk on the wild side