Magic And Loss

Lou Reed Magic And Loss Lyrics
1.Dorita - The Spirit

(instrumental)


2.What's Good - The Thesis

Life's like a mayonnaise soda
And life's like space without room
And life's like bacon and ice cream
That's what life's like without you

Life's like forever becoming
But life's forever dealing in hurt
Now life's like death without living
That's what life's like without you

Life's like sanskrit read to a pony
I see you in my mind's eye strangling on your tongue
What's good is knowing such devotion
I've been around - i know what makes things run

What good is seeing eye chocolate
What good's a computerized nose
And what good was cancer in april
Why no good - no good at all

What good's a war without killing
What good is rain that falls up
What good's a disease that won't hurt you
Why no good, i guess, no good at all

What good are these thoughts that i'm thinking
It must be better not to be thinking at all
A styrofoam lover with emotions of concrete
No not much, not much at all

What's good is life without living
What good's this lion that barks
You loved a life others throw away nightly
It's not fair, not fair at all

What's good?
Oh, baby, what's good?
What's good?
What's good? not much at all

Hey, baby, what's good? (what's good?)
What's good? (what's good?)
What's good? (what's good?) not much at all

What's good? (what's good?)
What's good? (life's good)
Life's good (life's good)
What's good? (life's good) but not fair at all


3.Power And Glory - The Situation

I was visited by the power and the glory
I was visited by a majestic hymn
Great bolts of lightning lighting up the sky
Electricity flowing through my veins

I was captured by a larger moment
I was seized by divinity's hot breath
Gorged like a lion on experience
Powerful from life

(i wanted all of it, all of it, all of it)
All of it
(not just some of it, all of it, all of it)
All of it

I saw a man turn into a bird
I saw a bird turn into a tiger
I saw a man hang from a cliff by the tips of his toes
In the jungles of the amazon

I saw a man put a redhot needle through his eye
Turn into a crow and fly through the trees
Swallow hot coals and breathe out flames
And i wanted this to happen to me

(i wanted all of it, all of it, all of it)
All of it
(all of it, all of it, all of it)
Not some of it

We saw the moon vanish into his pocket
We saw the stars disappear from sight
We saw him walk across water into the sun
While bathed in eternal light

We spewed out questions waiting for answers
Creating legends, religions and myths
Books, stories, movies and plays
All trying to explain this

(i wanted all of it, oh, all of it)
All of it
(all of it, oh, all of it)
Not some of it

I saw a great man turn into a little child
The cancer reduce him to dust
His voice growing weak as he fought for his life
With a bravery few men know

I saw isotopes introduced into his lungs
Trying to stop the cancerous spread
And it made me think of 'leda and the swan'
And gold being made from lead

The same power that burned hiroshima
Causing three legged babies and death
Shrunk to the size of a nickel
To help him regain his breath

And i was struck by the power and the glory
I was visited by a majestic him
Great bolts of lightning lighting up the sky
As the radiation flowed through him

(i wanted all of it, not just some of it, all of it)
He wanted all of it
(all of it, all of it, all of it)
He wanted all of it, not some of it


4.Magician - Internally

Magician, magician
Take me upon your wings, and
Gently roll the clouds away

I'm sorry, so sorry
I have no incantations
Only words to help sweep me away

I want some magic to sweep me away
I want some magic to sweep me away
I want to count to five
Turn around and find myself gone
Fly through the storm
And wake up in the calm

Release me from this body
From this bulk that moves beside me
Let me leave this body far away

I'm sick of looking at me
I hate this painful body
That disease has slowly worm away

Magician take my spirit
Inside i'm young and vital
Inside i'm alive, please take me away

So many things to do, it's too early
For my life to be ending
For this body, to simply rot away

I want some magic to keep me alive
I want a miracle, i don't want to die
I'm afraid that if i go to sleep i'll never wake
I'll no longer exist
I'll close my eyes and disappear
And float into the mist

Somebody, please hear me
My hand can't hold a cup of coffee
My fingers are weak, things just fall away

Inside i'm young and pretty
Too many things unfinished
My very breath taken away

Doctor you're no magician
And i am no believer
I need more than faith can give me now

I want to believe in miracles
Not just belief in numbers
I need some magic to take me away

I want some magic to sweep me away
I want some magic to sweep me away
Visit on this starlit night
Replace the stars the moon the light, the sun's gone
Fly me through this storm
And wake up in the calm
I fly right through this storm
And i wake, up, in, the, calm


5.Sword Of Damocles - Externally

I see the sword of damocles
Is right above your head
They're trying a new treatment
To get you out of bed
But radiation kills both bad and good
It can not differentiate
So to cure you they must kill you
The sword of damocles hangs above your head

Now i have seen lots of peoples die
From car crashes or drugs
Last night on 33rd st.
I saw a kid get hit by a bus
Bus this drawn out torture over which part of you lives
Is very hard to take
To cure you they must kill you
The sword of damocles above your head

That mix of morphine and dexedrine
We use it on the street
It kills the pain and keeps you up
Your very soul to keep
But this guessing game has its own rules
The good don't always win
And might makes right
The sword of damocles is hanging above your head

It seems everything's done that must be done
From over here though things don't seem fair
But there are things that we can't know
Maybe there's something over there
Some other world that we don't know about
I know you hate that mystic shit
It's just another way of seeing
The sword of damocles above your head


6.Goodby Mass - In A Chapel Bodily Termination

Sitting on a hard chair try to sit straight
Sitting on a hard chair this moment won't wait
Listening to the speakers they're talking about you
Look at all the people all the people you knew

Sitting with my back straight it becomes hard to hear
Some people are crying it becomes hard to hear
I don't think you'd have liked it you would have made a joke
You would have made it easier you'd say 'tomorrow i'm smoke'

Sitting on a hard chair how far we have come
Trying hard to listen to your friends who have come
Some of them are famous and some are just like me
Trying hard to listen trying hard to see

Sitting in a hard chair it's over time to stand
Some people are crying i turn to grab your hand
It's your daughter saying thank you, you, you would have made a
joke
'isn't this something,' you say, 'tomorrow i'm smoke'


7.Cremation - Ashes To Ashes

Well the coal-black sea waits for me-me-me
The coal-black sea waits forever
The waves hit the shore, crying more-more-more
But the coal-black sea waits forever

The tornados come up the coast they run
Hurricanes rip the sky forever
Through the weathers change, the sea remains the same
The coal-black sea waits forever

There are ashes split through collective guilt
People rest at sea forever
Since they burnt you up, collect you in a cup
For you the coal-black sea has no terror

Will your ashes float like some foreign boat
Or will they sink absorbed forever
Will the atlantic coast, have its final boast
Nothing else contained you ever

Now the coal-black sea waits for me-me-me
The coal-black sea waits forever
When i leave this joint at some further point
The same coal-black sea will it be waiting


8.Dreamin' - Escape

If i close my eyes i see your face
And i'm not without you
If i try hard and concentrate
I can still hear you speak
I picture myself in your room by the chair
You're smoking a cigarette
If i close my eyes i can see your face
You're saying, 'i missed you'

Dreamin', i'm always dreamin'

If i close my eyes i can smell your perfume
You look and say, 'hi baby'
If i close my eyes pictures from china
Still hang from the wall
I hear the dog bark i turn and say
'what were you saying?'
I picture you in the red chair
Inside the pale room

Dreamin', i'm always dreamin'

You sat in your chair with a tube in your arm
You were so skinny
You were still making jokes
I don't know what drugs they had you on
You said, 'i guess this is not the time
For long term investments'
You were always laughing
But you never laughing at me

They say in the end the pain was so bad
That you were screaming
Now you were no saint but you deserved
Better than that
From the corner i watched them removing things
From your apartment
But i can picture you red chair and pale room
Inside my head

If i close my eyes i see your face
And i'm not without you
If i try hard and concentrate i can hear your voice saying
'who better than you'
If i close my eyes i can't believe that
I'm here without you
Inside your pale room your empty red chair
And my head

Dreamin', i'm always dreamin'
Dreamin', i'm always dreamin'
Dreamin', i'm always dreamin'


9.No Chance - Regret

It must be nice to be steady, it must be nice to be firm
It must be nice never to move off the mark

It must be nice to be dependable and never let anyone down
It must be great to be all the things you're not
It must be great to be all the things that i'm not

I see you in the hospital your humor is intact
I'm embarrassed by the strength i seem to lack

If i was in your shoes, so strange that i'm not
I'd fold up in a minute and a half
I'd fold up in a minute and a half

And i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
No - i didn't get a chance to say goodbye

It must be nice to be normal it must be nice to be cold
It must be nice not to have to go oh up or down

But me i'm all emotional no matter how i try
You're gone and i'm still here alive
You're gone and i'm still here alive

And i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
No - i didn't get a chance to say goodbye

There are things we say we wish we knew and in fact we never do
But i'd wish i'd known that you were going to die

Then i wouldn't feel so stupid, such a fool that i didn't call
And i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
I didn't get a chance to say goodbye

No there's no logic to this - who's picked to stay or go
If you think too hard it only makes you mad

But your optimism made me think you really had it beat
So i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
I didn't get a chance to say goodbye
No - i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
I didn't get a chance to say goodbye


10.Warrior King - Revenge

I wish i was the warrior king
In every language that i speak
Lord over all that i survey
And all that i see i keep
Power omnipresent
Undiminished uncontrolled
With a message violent fury
At the center of my soul

I wish i was a warrior king
Inscrutable benign
With a faceless charging power
Always at my command
Footsteps so heavy that the world shakes
My rage instilling fear, ah, ha
Yet cautious firm but fair and good
The perfect warrior king

I wish i installed angles
In every subject's house
Agents of my goodness
No one would be without
A steak on every plate
A car for every house
And if you ever crossed me
I'd have your eyes put out

You don't exist without me
Without me you don't exist
And if logic won't convinced you
Then there's always this
I'm bigger, smarter, stronger, tough
Yet sensitive and kind
And though i could crush you like a bug
It will never cross my mind

It wouldn't cross my mind to your neck
Or rip out your vicious tongue
It wouldn't cross my mind to snap your leg like a twig
Or squash you like some slug
You are a violent messenger
And i'm not above your taunts
And if you hit me you know i'll kill you
Because i'm the warrior king


11.Harry's Circumcision - Reverie Gone Astray

Looking in the mirror
Harry didn't like what he saw
The cheeks of his mother, the eyes of his father
As each day crashed around him
The future stood revealed
He was turning into his parents
The final disappointment

Stepping out of the shower
Harry stared at himself
His hairline receding, the slight overbite
He picked up the razor to begin his shaving and thought -
- oh, i wish i was different

I wish i was stronger
I wish i was thinner
I wish i didn't have this nose
These ears that stick out remind me of my father
And i don't want to be reminded at all
The final disappointment

Harry looked in the mirror thinking of vincent van gogh
And with a quick swipe lopped off his nose
And happy with that he made a slice where his chin was
He'd always wanted a dimple
The end of all illusion
Then peering down straight between his legs
Harry thought of the range of possibilities
A new face, a new life, no memories of the past
And slit his throat from ear to ear

Harry woke up with a cough
The stitches made him wince
A doctor smiled at him from
Somewhere across the room
Son, we saved your life
But you'll never look the same
And when he heard that
Harry had to laugh
And when he heard that
Harry had to laugh
Although it hurt harry had to laugh
The final disappointment


12.Gassed And Stoked - Loss

Well you covered your tracks and now i can't see you
You had your ashes scattered at sea
There's no grave to visit, no tombstone to look at
You were in the new york times obituary
There's no record, no tape, no book, no movie
Some photographs and memories
Sometimes i dial your phone number by mistake
And this is what i hear

This is no longer a working number, baby
Please redial your call
This is no longer a working number
Your party doesn't live here anymore
This is no longer a working number
If you still require help
Stay on the line and an operator
Will try to bail you out

I knew i should have seen you that thursday
I knew i shouldn't have left
But you sounded so good, your spirits so up
I thought i'd see you next week
I say over and over if i had half a brain
If i had half a brain in my head
I wouldn't sit here dialing a wrong number
And listening to what some recording said

This is no longer a working number
Please redial your call
This is no longer a working number
Your party doesn't live here anymore
This is no longer a working number
Well, if you still require help
Stay on the line and an operator
Will try to bail you out

I knew i should have written, written things down
I always say i'll never forget
Who can forget a one-eyed pilot
Who's a concert pianist, ah
A painter, a poet, songwriter supreme
My friends are blending in my head
They're melting into one great spirit
And that spirit isn't dead

Now i may not remember everything that you said
But i remember all the sings you've done
And not a day goes by not an hour
When i don't try to be like you
You were gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
And you were that way all of the time
So i guess you know why i'm laughing at myselves
Every time i dial the wrong line

This is no longer a working number, baby
This is no longer a working number
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go
Gassed, stoked and rarin' to go


13.Power And Glory Part Ii - Magic Transformation

I was visited by the power and the glory
I was visited by a majestic hymn
Great bolts of lightning lighting up the sky
Electricity flowing through my veins

I was captured by a larger moment
I was seized by divinity's hot breath
Gorged like a lion on experience
Powerful from life

I wanted all of it, all of it
All of it, not some of it
All of it, all of it
Not just some of it, but all of it

I saw a man turn into a bird
I saw a bird turn into a tiger
I saw a man hang from a cliff by the tips of his toes
In the jungles of the amazon

I saw a man put a redhot needle through his eye
Turn into a crow and fly through the trees
Swallow hot coals and breathe out flames
And i wanted this to happen to me
Oh, i wanted this to happen to me

I wanted all of it, all of it
All of it, not some of it
All of it, all of it
Not just some of it, but all of it

Cancer reduce him to dust

We saw the moon vanish into his pocket
We saw the stars disappear from sight
We saw him walk across water into the sun
While bathed in eternal light

We spewed out questions waiting for answers
Creating legends, religions and myths
Books, stories, movies and plays
All trying to explain this

I wanted all of it, all of it
All of it, not some of it
All of it, all of it
Not just some of it, but all of it

I saw a great man turn into a little child
The cancer reduce him to dust
His voice growing weak as he fought for his life
With a bravery stronger than lust

I saw isotopes introduced into his lungs
Trying to stop the cancerous spread
And it made me think of 'leda and the swan'
And gold being made from lead

The same power that burned hiroshima
Causing three legged babies and death
Shrunk to the size of a nickel
To help him regain his breath

And i was struck by the power and the glory
And i was visited by a majestic him
Great bolts of lightning shooting up his veins
As the radiation flowed through him

He wanted all of it, all of it
All of it, not just some of it
All of it, all of it
Not some of it, but all of it


14.Magic And Loss - The Summation

When you pass through the fire, you pass through humble
You pass through a maze of self doubt
When you pass through humble, the lights can blind you
Some people never figure that out

You pass through arrogance, you pass through hurt
You pass through an ever present past
And it's best not to wait for luck to save you
Pass through the fire to the light

Pass through the fire to the light
Pass through the fire to the light
It's best not to wait for luck to save you
Pass through the fire to the light

As you pass through the fire, your right hand waving
There are things you have to throw out
That caustic dread inside your head
Will never help you out

You have to be very strong, 'cause you'll start from zero
Over and over again
And as the smoke clears there's an all consuming fire
Lying straight ahead

Lying straight ahead
Lying straight ahead
As the smoke clears there's an all consuming fire
Lying straight ahead

They say no one person can do it all
But you want to in your head
But you can't be shakespeare and you can't be joyce
So what is left instead

You're stuck with yourself and a rage that can hurt you
You have to start at the beginning again
And just this moment this wonderful fire
Started up again

When you pass through humble, when you pass through sickly
When you pass through i'm better than you all
When you pass through anger and self deprecation
And have the strength to acknowledge it all

When the past makes you laugh and you can savor the magic
That let you survive your own war
You find that that fire is passion
And there's a door up ahead not a wall

As you pass through fire as you pass through fire
Trying to remember its name
When you pass through fire licking at your lips
You cannot remain the same

And if the building's burning move towards that door
But don't put the flames out
There's a bit of magic in everything
And then some loss to even things out

Some loss to even things out
Some loss to even things out
There's a bit of magic in everything
And then some loss to even things out