The album is a tragic rock opera about a doomed couple, and addresses theme… Read Full Bio ↴The album is a tragic rock opera about a doomed couple, and addresses themes of drug use and depression. Upon its release, the response of fans and critics was not positive as many were expecting another upbeat glam outing. Despite lukewarm reviews the album reached #7 in the UK album chart (Reed's best achievement there). Poor sales in the US (#98) and harsh criticism made Reed feel disillusioned about the album and in subsequent years he rarely played any Berlin material in his live shows. Over time many have come to consider Berlin to be among Lou Reed's best studio albums as a solo artist.
Musically, Berlin differs greatly from the bulk of Reed's work, due to the use of heavy orchestral arrangements, horns, and top session musicians. Instrumentally, Reed himself only contributes acoustic guitar.
"The Kids" tells of Caroline having her children taken from her by the authorities, and features the sounds of children shouting for their mother. The Waterboys take their name from a line in this song.
As with Reed's previous two studio albums, Berlin re-drafts several songs that had been written and recorded previously. The title track first appeared on Reed's solo debut album, only here it is lyrically simplified, the key changed, and re-arranged for piano. "Oh, Jim" makes use of the Velvet Underground outtake, "Oh, Gin". "Caroline Says (II)" is a rewrite of "Stephanie Says" from VU. The Velvets had also recorded a rather sedate demo of "Sad Song", which had much milder lyrics in its original form. "Men of Good Fortune" had also been played by the Velvets as early as 1966; an archival CD featuring live performances of the band playing at Andy Warhol's Factory provides the evidence of the song's age. The CD featuring the early performance of "Men of Good Fortune" is not for sale and can only be heard at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Musically, Berlin differs greatly from the bulk of Reed's work, due to the use of heavy orchestral arrangements, horns, and top session musicians. Instrumentally, Reed himself only contributes acoustic guitar.
"The Kids" tells of Caroline having her children taken from her by the authorities, and features the sounds of children shouting for their mother. The Waterboys take their name from a line in this song.
As with Reed's previous two studio albums, Berlin re-drafts several songs that had been written and recorded previously. The title track first appeared on Reed's solo debut album, only here it is lyrically simplified, the key changed, and re-arranged for piano. "Oh, Jim" makes use of the Velvet Underground outtake, "Oh, Gin". "Caroline Says (II)" is a rewrite of "Stephanie Says" from VU. The Velvets had also recorded a rather sedate demo of "Sad Song", which had much milder lyrics in its original form. "Men of Good Fortune" had also been played by the Velvets as early as 1966; an archival CD featuring live performances of the band playing at Andy Warhol's Factory provides the evidence of the song's age. The CD featuring the early performance of "Men of Good Fortune" is not for sale and can only be heard at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Berlin
Lou Reed Lyrics
Berlin This next- Oh, thank you This next song, we're gonna make be…
Caroline Says I Caroline says that I'm just a toy She wants a man,…
Caroline Says II Caroline says as she gets up off the floor Why is it…
How Do You Think It Feels How do you think it feels When you're speeding and lonely Co…
Lady Day When she walked on down the street She was like a…
Men of Good Fortune Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall While men…
Oh Jim All your two-bit friends they're shootin' you up with pills …
Sad Song Staring at my picture book She looks like Mary, Queen of…
The Bed This is the place where she lay her head When she…
The Kids They're taking her children away Because they said she was n…