Having played guitar and sung in doo-wop groups in high school, Reed studied poetry at Syracuse University under Delmore Schwartz, and had served as a radio DJ, hosting a late-night avant garde music program while at college. After graduating from Syracuse, he went to work for Pickwick Records in New York City, a low-budget record company that specialized in sound-alike recordings, as a songwriter and session musician. A fellow session player at Pickwick was John Cale; together with Sterling Morrison and Angus MacLise, they would form the Velvet Underground in 1965. After building a reputation on the avant garde music scene, they gained the attention of Andy Warhol, who became the band's manager; they in turn became something of a fixture at The Factory, Warhol's art studio, and served as his "house band" for various projects. The band released their first album, now with drummer Moe Tucker and featuring German singer Nico, in 1967, and parted ways with Warhol shortly thereafter. Following several lineup changes and three more little-heard albums, Reed quit the band in 1970.
After leaving the band, Reed would go on to a much more commercially successful solo career, releasing twenty solo studio albums. His second, Transformer (1972), was produced by David Bowie and arranged by Mick Ronson, and brought him mainstream recognition. The album is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side". After Transformer, the less commercial but critically acclaimed Berlin peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. Rock 'n' Roll Animal (a live album released in 1974) sold strongly, and Sally Can't Dance (1974) peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200; but for a long period after, Reed's work did not translate into sales, leading him deeper into drug addiction and alcoholism. Reed cleaned up in the early 1980s, and gradually returned to prominence with The Blue Mask (1982) and New Sensations (1984), reaching a critical and commercial career peak with his 1989 album New York.
Reed participated in the re-formation of the Velvet Underground in the 1990s, and made several more albums, including a collaboration album with John Cale titled Songs for Drella which was a tribute to their former mentor Andy Warhol. Magic and Loss (1992) would become Reed's highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 6.
He contributed music to two theatrical interpretations of 19th century writers, one of which he developed into an album titled The Raven. He married his third wife Laurie Anderson in 2008, and recorded the collaboration album Lulu with Metallica. He died in 2013 of liver disease. Reed has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996 and as a solo act in 2015.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed
Studio albums
Lou Reed (1972)
Transformer (1972)
Berlin (1973)
Rock 'n' Roll Animal (1974)
Sally Can't Dance (1974)
Metal Machine Music (1975)
Coney Island Baby (1975)
Rock and Roll Heart (1976)
Street Hassle (1978)
The Bells (1979)
Growing Up in Public (1980)
The Blue Mask (1982)
Legendary Hearts (1983)
New Sensations (1984)
Mistrial (1986)
New York (1989)
Magic and Loss (1992)
Set the Twilight Reeling (1996)
Ecstasy (2000)
The Raven (2003)
Hudson River Wind Meditations (2007)
Going Down
Lou Reed Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you think you've got your problems all nailed down.
Pieces of the scheme
Seem to rattle up and to rattle down.
And when you start to fall,
And those footsteps, they start to fade.
Yeah, you're falling all around.
And you know you're going down
For the last time.
When you're in the air,
And you're thinking you'll drift off into the rest.
Your friends politely advise:
Hey, look, you're pushing too hard,
And perhaps you need a rest.
And when you start to fall,
And all those footsteps, they start to fade.
Then you know you're going down.
Yeah, you're crashing upside down.
And you know you're going down
For the last time.
Time's not what it seems.
It just seems longer, when you're lonely in this world.
Everything, it seems,
Would be brighter if your nights were spent with some girl
Yeah, you're falling all around.
Yeah, you're crashing upside down.
Oh, oh, and you know you're going down
For the last time.
In Lou Reed's song "Going Down," the lyrics describe a feeling of falling down and facing failure. Reed uses dream imagery to suggest that the character in the song may not even be aware that they are about to fall until it's too late. The chorus, "And you know you're going down, for the last time," reinforces the idea that there will be no coming back from this failure.
The second verse continues with friends advising that the singer take a rest instead of continuing to push too hard. In this case, the character may be aware of the danger but chooses to continue despite the risks. Reed highlights the singer's loneliness and a desire for companionship as a factor in their downfall. This theme of isolation is reinforced throughout the song, suggesting that the singer's self-destructive tendencies may stem from feelings of alienation.
Overall, the song can be interpreted as a commentary on self-sabotage and the road to ruin. Lou Reed's use of dream imagery and poetic language creates a vivid picture of someone in a desperate situation, unable to break free from their own destructive patterns.
Line by Line Meaning
When you're in a dream,
And you think you've got your problems all nailed down.
When you're feeling good and you believe that you've got everything under control.
Pieces of the scheme
Seem to rattle up and to rattle down.
Things start to get out of order and appear to be falling apart.
And when you start to fall,
And those footsteps, they start to fade.
When everything starts to go wrong and you begin to feel lost.
Then you know you're going down.
Yeah, you're falling all around.
And you know you're going down
For the last time.
You're completely failing at whatever you were trying to do and there's no coming back from it.
When you're in the air,
And you're thinking you'll drift off into the rest.
When you're feeling like you can just let go and relax.
Your friends politely advise:
Hey, look, you're pushing too hard,
And perhaps you need a rest.
Your loved ones are trying to tell you that you're overdoing it and need to slow down.
Yeah, you're crashing upside down.
You're ruining everything in a big way.
Time's not what it seems.
It just seems longer, when you're lonely in this world.
Time drags on when you're feeling lonely and disconnected.
Everything, it seems,
Would be brighter if your nights were spent with some girl
Life feels like it would be better if only you had someone special to spend your time with.
Oh, oh, and you know you're going down
For the last time.
You know that this failure is your final one and that there's no fixing it.
Lyrics © SONY ATV MUSIC PUB LLC
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