Reed, Lou - The Blue Mask Lyrics

I listened to all Lou Reed's music yet this and 'Berlin" were the only albums I possessed. And rightly so.

What a viscous band Lou assembled for this album. A sonic tornado.

One of the greatest lyricists.

Lou the man good man my man Mott the hoople man Bowie man gram rock? Man wei just dont know

build up ends at 1:16

This needs to be viewed and listened to more.. what a song! Im a huge Lou Reed fan

Lou you beat them all ....

El tema más brutal que jamás he oído. Bestial

terrific, reminds 1 of that kid shlomo artzi

Too deadly

Venus in furious

When my son was 4 he was bummed about having to go to daycare and wouldn't leave the house. I put this on my car stereo and blasted it. He came down the front steps with a wicked little smile on his face. Bringing the ruckus. A cool kid now at 18.

Lyrics:

They tied his arms behind his back
To teach him how to swim
They put blood in his coffee
And milk in his gin
They stood over the soldier
In the midst of the squalor
There was war in his body
And it caused his brain to holler
Make the sacrifice
Mutilate my face
If you need someone to kill
I'm a man without a will
Wash the razor in the rain
Let me luxuriate in pain
Please don't set me free
Death means a lot to me
The pain was lean and it made him scream
He knew he was alive
He put a pin through the nipples on his chest
He thought he was a saint
I've made love to my mother, killed my father and brother
What am I to do
When a sin goes too far, it's like a runaway car
It cannot be controlled
Spit upon his face and scream
There's no oedipus today
This is no play you're thinking you are in
What will you say
Take the blue mask down from my face
And look me in the eye
I get a thrill from punishment
I've always been that way
I loathe and despise repentance
You are permanently stained
Your weakness buys indifference
And indiscretion in the streets
Dirty's what you are and clean is what you're not
You deserve to be soundly beat
Make the sacrifice
Take it all the way
There's no "won't" high enough
To stop this desperate day
Don't take death away
Cut the finger at the joint
Cut the stallion at his mount
And stuff it in his mouth

Avec Robert Quine Fernando Saunders et Doanne Perry ( Février 1982)

Most people get their thrill from punishment by getting married. Something Lou had done for the first time, just before this. His best!

[Verse 1]
They tied his arms behind his back
To teach him how to swim
They put blood in his coffee
And milk in his gin
They stood over the soldier
In the midst of the squalor
There was war in his body
And it caused his brain to holler

[Verse 2]
Make the sacrifice
Mutilate my face
If you need someone to kill
I'm a man without a will
Wash the razor in the rain
Let me luxuriate in pain
Please don't set me free
Death means a lot to me

[Verse 3]
The pain was lean and it made him scream
He knew he was alive
He put a pin through the nipples on his chest
He thought he was a saint
I've made love to my mother, killed my father and brother
What am I to do
When a sin goes too far, it's like a runaway car
It cannot be controlled
Spit upon his face and scream
There's no oedipus today
This is no play you're thinking you are in
What will you say
Take the blue mask down from my face
And look me in the eye
I get a thrill from punishment
I've always been that way

[Verse 4]
I loathe and despise repentance
You are permanently stained
Your weakness buys indifference
And indiscretion in the streets
Dirt is what you are and clean is what you're not
You deserve to be soundly beat
Make the sacrifice
Take it all the way
There's no "won't" high enough
To stop this desperate day
Don't take death away
Cut the finger at the joint
Cut the stallion at his mount
And stuff it in his mouth

the guitars say it clearer than the words.

more punk than you

If i had a bad day at work i would come home and play this as loud as i could and when it finished i was absolved.

No one was punk before Lou and the Velvets!

"He put a pin through the nipples of his chest-he thought he was a saint." (Love Carrying a Gun too!)

Love this album, Stark harrowing painful brilliant.

Ferocious. RIP Lou and Robert. Catch the live in Italy album for more.

Joy Division

These Days

Grunge bands? If you grew up on stuff like this by Lou Reed and songs by Pete Hammill -- even earlier than punk -- ("Nadir's Big Chance" "Faculty X" & "Mister X (Gets Tense") -- you'd laugh at grunge bands thinking they invented something.

Exactly!

The best artists are thieves. Always taking inspiration from what came before. An infinite chain of energy.

Music always evolves. A new style cannot be a total invention, it must have at least some influence from what the artist listened to. Grunge was the last good thing that happened in the musical world. After that, nothing. I'm glad I was young and full of energy in the 90's to have been able to experience it to the full together with my friends.

This is True. This is Truth.

~Take a Bleu Mask down from my face <~And look me in the eye~ I get a thrill from punishment, ~I've always been that way~

Lou at his finest~RAW~

carnaval of light.

Lou at his unhinged best.

intro sounds like GoF - anthrax

Some heavens are different than others.

My favorite line in this song.

“I get a thrill from punishment
I've always been that way”

Epic guitar intro. These lyrics though. This is raw, real ROCK!

Five minutes of fuckin' awesome. Lou Reed IS a fuckin' genius. I speak in the present tense.

Its so easy to dismiss a Lou reed song the first time around, or the second, third, etc,. This is an absolutely beautiful song, and I can't help but feel moved by the lyrics and the tone this song sets. Fuck you Lou reed. I love you.

ThePublicEntity I didn't like blue mask when I first heard it. But every time I go back in his catalog and give things a listen, I end up loving them obsessively. Except maybe metal machine music. Lol

nirvanas garbage

great
song

STUFF IT IN ITS MOUTH!

This is IT!

Favorite line: "I loathe and despise repentance / You are permanently stained!"

RELY LOVE THAT LINE~ INTENSE ,SUPER CHRISTIAN UPBRING~ FOR A FEW YEARS~ YEA, OK (i'M PERMENANTLY STAINED~ WILL NO LONGER BE A SUBJECT OF BRITISH EMPIRE~ AND WILL BE PASSED UP TO INHERIT CROWN" GEORGIUS V DE GRATIABRIT:OMNI:REX F.D. IND:IMP

Take the blue mask down from my face
And look me in the eye

"INTENSE ,SUPER CHRISTIAN UPBRING"


Remarkably, it doesn't show.

Death means a lot to me!

There is something so incredibly wrong with this song that you can not help but love it!

Lou was a fucking genius

totalmente

gears5336 fuck yeah he was!

Sorry to tell you Varg but... he was jew :P

Who the fuck cares? Not me that's for sure, 1st heard Venus in Furs when I was 16 over 40 years ago and have loved (most of) his music ever since.

nirvana ? who the feck tied my laces today !! innit tho

I was reading that this was grunge before nirvana and i didnt want to listen to lou reed because i was a little disapointed but now that i listen to this i have to say that i loved the song RIP lou reed 

Grung was a moviment not a genre

grung was a sneer in Lous cheek

Sara Valentina shame on you dirt is what you are clean is what your not

szs voc
2 seconds ago
nirvanas garbage

Sara Valentina anyways Nirvana was inspired by Pixies and Sonic Youth musically, and by Melvins when it comes to stage presence. They didn't define grunge

had to get clean to put out dirt

háhhhh

quit the dpe still hangin on

Wow! What a epic, raging and visceral experience. Great song.

Pesado,forte,terminal!!!!.Raivoso!.Lou Reed!

@11spike7 hello i aggree.

Robert Quine RIP

When everything else is forgotten about Lou Reed, I think this piece will still stand out the test of time. Monolithic..! Flame on, Mutherfuckers..!!

The Quine\Reed wall of sound.

I love Quine's guitar on Matthew Sweet"s 'Girlfriend'.

sister ray reprise

wistoncap sister Ray it's a deadpanned almost nonchalant delivery, almost see the wink behind the dark shades." Hey hippies, how about this?" Blue Mask is more like prising the lid off hell and looking in.

Well put

His follow-up to "Venus in Furs"?