lou's casual racism

[bunnyben]

I wanna be black, have natural rhythm
Shoot twenty foot of jism too
And fuck up the jews

I wanna be black, I wanna be a panther
Have a girlfriend named samantha
And have a stable of foxy whores
Oh, oh, I wanna be black

I don’t wanna be a fucked up
Middle class college student anymore
I just wanna have a stable of
Foxy little whores
Yeah, yeah, I wanna be black
Oh, oh, I wanna be black
Yeah, yeah, I wanna be black

I wanna be black, wanna be like martin luther king
And get myself shot in the spring
And lead a whole generation, too
And fuck up the jews

I wanna be black, I wanna be like malcolm x
And cast a hex
Over president kennedy’s tomb
And have a big prick, too

Oh, I don’t wanna be a fucked up
Middle class college student no more
Yeah, I just wanna have a
Stable of foxy little whores

Yeah, yeah, I wanna be black
I wanna be black
I wanna be black
I wanna be black
I wanna be black
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanna be black
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanna be black
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanna be black
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
(yeah, yeah, I wanna be black, oh, oh)
(yeah, yeah, I wanna be black, oh, oh)
(yeah, yeah, I wanna be black, oh, oh)
(yeah, yeah, I wanna be black, oh, oh)

[flamingrev]

Well, it's more about the casual racism of middle class college students, right? Although I suppose that could be Lou's loophole for writing about his feelings, but the victim of the song does seem to be one who romanticizes the struggles of The Brother and foolishly assumes that these struggles confer some sort of inherent integrity.

And I'm not a Lou apologist, I accept that he is a huge asshole.

Street Hassle is my favorite non-velvets Lou Reed.

[feetsies]

I understand his beef, it's pretty gangsta. It's kind of like the plight of the brown man versus the black man in los angeles. It seems like there is a struggle between jews and blacks in New York.

You'll remember the conniption between the korean and the black man back in the LA riots.

Can't we all just get along?

[twentysixdollars]

We're aware that this song was supposed to be funny, right? Maybe it's not (I think it is, to a point), but it's not a 'casually racist' song in the way that a lot of Stephen Stills songs (for example) are casually racist (and also casually sexist), and a lot of Stones songs are racist and sexist. It is, as others have argued, about racism. The idea being, affluent white kids romanticize the inner city because it's countercultural, but ignore the reality of oppression and marginalization that gave rise to/rendered necessary the counterculture in the first place.

When he wrote it, Lou was most certainly not a college student.

There is no struggle between the blacks and the jews in New York. There is racism and antisemitism. No-one's struggling with anyone else. They are struggling with ideologies.

Not to defend the song, which is crude, and easily misconstrued (as by the original poster). I don't think it's racist, though.

Subject for further research: Lenny Bruce

[feetsies]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la- ... -rightrail

[bunnyben]

Not to defend the song, which is crude, and easily misconstrued (as by the original poster). I don't think it's racist, though.

Subject for further research: Lenny Bruce

i never said for one second that it was racist against black people or jewish people. i think it's 'casual' racism towards the ignorent white man. despite lou being white himself to me he is clearly mocking the white mans racism

[twentysixdollars]

i never said for one second that it was racist against black people or jewish people. i think it's 'casual' racism towards the ignorent white man. despite lou being white himself to me he is clearly mocking the white mans racism

I don't understand what you're saying. If you don't believe that this song is racist, then why are you accusing Lou Reed of racism ("lou's casual racism")? "Lou's casual racism" - that genitive phrase means "the casual racism that belongs to Lou", i.e., "the racism that Lou harbors".

Is it that you have a different understanding of the word "racism" than the rest of us?

Or do you have a different understanding of the word "casual"?

[flamingrev]

Well, he's not just talking about any white man either. He's talking about a very specific sort of college student that easily confuses fashion with rebellion and who blindly embraces The Other for all the wrong reasons.

I love the song, although I'm careful who I play it around.

My favorite bit is when the backup singers (who sound very black) echo "fuck up the jews!"

I'd say that it is fairly brave for Lou to take on a song so easily misconstrued, and in first person narration no less. Or, he was such an asshole he just didn't care what anybody might think about him. Either way, it's great.

So what's the deal with the album being recorded in binaural? To experience that, would you have to have the original record? I understand that it means a special microphone setup was used in the recording process, but is there anything special on the output end? Is it simply the way the production sounds kinda cracked out, with a slight echo on the voice?

[bunnyben]

Well, he's not just talking about any white man either. He's talking about a very specific sort of college student that easily confuses fashion with rebellion and who blindly embraces The Other for all the wrong reasons.

indeed

[twentysixdollars]

So what's the deal with the album being recorded in binaural? To experience that, would you have to have the original record? I understand that it means a special microphone setup was used in the recording process, but is there anything special on the output end? Is it simply the way the production sounds kinda cracked out, with a slight echo on the voice?

No, it just means you're supposed to listen to it with headphones and that if you do, it is supposed to produce a 3D soundfield (Take No Prisoners also uses this effect, and also The Bells much more successfully). For example the backing vocals will often come from the nape of your neck.

[alan_cohaul]

Heh, after reading "Please Kill Me", I think that I lost some respect for Lou and a whole bunch of punk/ protopunk guys!

I always thought a song called "Shit In My Mouth Lou Reed" would be kinda funny--after reading Please Kill Me.

[feetsies]

Just for old time's sake, I'd like to state that Lou Reed is a fag.

[flamingrev]

It disturbs me that this thing with Laurie Anderson has gone on for so long.

Really, she can't do better?

Why can't music geeks have some sort of National Enquirer gossip rag?