Lou Reed - Romeo Had Juliette Lyrics

The perfume burned his eyes
Holding tightly to her thighs
Then something flickered for a minute
And then it vanished and was gone

Great stuff. They don't write 'em like that anymore. Lou Reed - a true rock God.

(10.12.2019)

Saddest song ever :(

'82-'92 was good decade for Lou.
The post-Transformer decade (72-80) was fairly weak except for Street Hassle. (Not a fan of Berlin)
I assume 1981 was his "rehab year".
Not really into anything after Magic and Loss

1989 Tower theatre In Philadelphia , saw this tour 👏🏼/ was lucky enough to see Lou & John Cale : Songs for Drella ( Andy Warhol ) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It’s got me thinking now : who do u want to see before it’s too late ? Lou has moved on now in his journey, but his music is still alive / same with Bowie ❤️❤️❤️

Little Joey Diaz

he's a punk

thanks Brian Eno

Gret So pure so essential

And her voice was like a bell.

because like that was her name . ..

The best song on what is probably Lou Reed's best album. New York is in my personal top 10 albums of all time. And yeah, I'm a New Yorker. 👹

and then it vanished and was gone...just like lou. deep love. ged from rosneath.

As if there is there is thing as faulty math. Such a slut.

You repeated there is and you also left out the female article you obviously thought in place of actually putting it in its place. But mainly I object to New York's armpits, and how they pretend to keep eating me alive. I still like it better how I wrote it the first time.

poetic genius!

Muito massa

"and her voice was like a bell."

Caught between the twisted stars the plotted lines the faulty map
that brought Columbus to New York
Betwixt between the East and west he calls on her wearing a leather vest
the earth squeals and shudders to a halt
A diamond crucifix in his ear is used to help ward off the Fear
that he has left his soul in someone's rented car
Inside his pants he hides a mop to clean the mess that he has dropped
into the life of lithesome Juliette Bell
And Romeo wanted Juliette
And Juliette wanted Romeo
Romeo Rodriguez squares his shoulders and curses Jesus
runs a comb through his black pony-tail
He's thinking of his lonely room
the sink that by his bed gives off a stink
Then smells her perfume in his eyes
and her voice was like a bell
Outside the streets were steaming the crack dealers were dreaming
of an Uzi someone had just scored
I betcha I could hit that light with my one good arm behind my back
says little Joey Diaz
Brother give me another tote those downtown hoods are no damn good
those Italians need a lesson to be taught
This cop who died in Harlem you think they'd get the warnin'
I was dancing when his brains ran out on the street
And Romeo had Juliette
And Juliette had her Romeo
I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag with Latin written on it that says
"It's hard to give a shit these days"
Manhattan's sinking like a rock, into the filthy Hudson what a shock
they wrote a book about it, they said it was like ancient Rome
The perfume burned his eyes holding tightly to her thighs
and something flickered for a minute and then it vanished and was gone

I'm Puerto Rican and grew up in Brooklyn in the 60s and 70s. Lou's depiction of the street life is perfect. "Brother give me another tote" toting a zip gun was common. We were always at odds with the Italians.

Coked out and listening to Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Peace. Out.

Seems's hard t believe that this song would be only viewed 2.1K, Ah Lou we miss you man but I hope the feeling is not mutual ;)

The perfume burned his eyes holding tightly to her thighs..................

Thank you Brian.......

I got this album soon after it came out, back in the late 80s or so. This song is my favorite on the whole record. Such vivid images, you can see and smell the city by listening to this. I've been to NYC quite a few times, and I'm not a fan of the place, but this album almost made me want to be there. Not only is the guitar fantastic, but the lyrics are perfect. It REALLY bothered me when he died, but I seem to think he was maybe a little bit happy at the end of his life, which is nice.

Some people don't like Lou's guitar. They haven't heard this!

"something flickered for a minute
,
and then it vanished and was gone."


there's something about that line that feels like a punch to the gut, in the best possible way
what a way to open one of his greatest albums
you are missed and much loved, uncle Lou

I heard this album around 1989.I was working on a building site in London. I was getting a bit sick of listening to the mixed tape on my sony walkman when this young Irish electrician, who I'd never met before lent me this tape he'd only just bought . I'm still playing it ( on vinyl) 30 years later. God bless you Emmet, wherever you are

Man, Reed said what he wanted about things we STILL can't talk about today for some reason. Lou once said that he wanted his work to mean something for future generations, even if that group who nods their head at his messages is small. Thanks Mr. Reed.

Ao. Ouvir. Lou. Reed. Recordo. Quando. Trazia. O. Leitor. E. Fones. Ao. Dar. As. Minhas. Caminhadas. No. Estrangeiro Grande voz.

I rather experience anxiety than to listen to Lou Reed.

https://youtu.be/FB_Z9Q4kjZA hmm hmm

Brilliant!!!!

This was the album that Lou was promoting the first time I saw him and he did the whole album and went back stage for 15 minutes and came back out and ripped straight into street hassle it couldn’t of been better if I wanted it to be what a great performer it was so sad the last time I saw him I took my son with me in 2011 and has soon has he came out on stage I could he was ill and it genuinely upset me to see him like after I’d seen him younger he was the rock n roll animal without a shadow of a doubt my opinion is that Cohen Dylan and Lou are the top 3 poets and composers of our life time along with Paul Simon and Lennon the top fiv

Oh,no no no,,They know about THIS ALBUM..But its wayyy to honest wayyy tooo upsetting to the elites especially and in particular to the NYC crowd...you know it,,,AND THEY KNOW IT

Father Lou had the best rock-n-roll voice.

Great Song !!! 👍👍👍

Wow !!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

It's hard to give a shit these days.

ルーリードならではのトーキングスタイルのvo.と、軽快なR&Rサウンドのマッチングが絶妙ですね♪

...the earth squeals and shutters to a halt.....

Met Lou Reed outside a methadone clinic in the early 70,s on 2nd ave & 114th st. Wish I had a good story , but it was hard enough to just say hello.

no wonder his liver gave out. karma got him in the end, eh?

something flickered for a minute

Era,Lou Reed..ny York..

a primeira vez,não esqueço nunca-alguém cantava-tocava,no Metrô, de NY..dei i dólar..e chorei ali mesmo..e ainda perdi o trem..mas,foi divino..

Today’s musicians take note.
This is how you do it...

Discazo..!

Still kills me after 30 years

1989. I was living in the region when it came out. NYC had terrible problems with poverty, addiction, homelessness, and fuckin AIDS. Which you hoped killed your loved ones quickly because with no treatment, things could get really gruesome. ANYWAY this was also when the forces that we see at work in New York today (international rich fucking asshole-land) really took hold. Remember The Central Park Five thing Trump made himself famous over, and was totally fucking wrong about? That was 1989 But the people were fighting back! Homeless were organizing tent communities and poverty activism developed strong roots we still benefit from. The gays and the freaks and the artists fought back. Silence = Death and we won that one!
I contend that what is happening today (rich vs poor, freedom vs authority etc) is a global version of some of the struggles addressed on this record. Lou Reed is a great artist, observer and storyteller. This record meant a lot to me in 1989, but i have not listened to it in oh, decades? I feel inspired knowing we have faced these struggles in the past, and somehow we always prevail.
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”

And her voice was like a bell...enzo. Ben je aan het slapen of zo ?

Filthy Hudson River,is a disgrace

We Love You Lou !

I saw this Live !!!! BRILLIANT ! We LOVE YOU !!! ❤❤❤❤❤

Berlin was good but this is Lou Reed's Magnum Opus imho.

He left his soul in someone's rented car.

God I love his style. And it's not even my kind of "esthetic", that's how good he is.

My CD copy has Lou asking that NY be listened to in one sitting. He wrote it as an album. Have sat down with a glass oftern for the duration over the years. Cheerin' Lou

LR the Universl ugly brutal but true .

the best opening ever, a fluffed guitar lick', a 1 2 3, and then lou hits us with "caught between the twisted stars,the plotted lines, the faulty map that brought colombus to new york.........what can one say?

After all this years..........the best.

"This cop who died in Harlem
you think they'd get the warnin'
I was dancing when his brains run out on the street"

I remember reading about this or seeing it somewhere. But I can't find the specific incident anywhere today.

Growing up in Brooklyn in the 60s and 70s it seemed the police were our enemies.

I think someone is singing about my life again. get to know me if you like this song.

I'm guessing Lou knew that Columbus landed nowhere near New York. There is a square named after him but I think Romeo Rodriguez's family came to this hate-filled country after it was named.

chasebizzy1 Columbus is sudo name of the Lucifarian Goddess Columbia which is the the surname a famous gift from French Freemasons that sits in the harbour. Columbia, Goddess Of Liberty. Or something like that. Females in anchiet languages means Rival, rebellion, to do whatever one wants. If the USA is New Babylon, then surely New York is Sodom & Gomuora(spell check my ass). The twix & trecs east & west. This country was purposely, & perfectly designed, & early settlers were chosen for their skills in summoning demons. That's what means by saying 'is what brought Columbia to new York. That stature represents the Demon that was integral in settling New York. And what is Romeo doing thru out the song? He's spreading his seed, the demon of new York's seed. And at the hopelessness of the message if which is crumbling in decay from the inside, he tells us why in a metiafor of the name & female dna- the twin towers. All Romeo & Juliette were ever gonna have in The World is each other, that & there only true love-- Their Love Of Sin...

NINGUÉM CONTAVA AS HISTÓRIAS DO SUBMUNDO E DOS BECOS SUJOS DE NOVA IORQUE TÃO PROFUNDAMENTE QUANTO LOU REED...ESTÁ IMORTALIZADO NO NO UNIVERSO DO ROCK N ROLL!!!

When I was 14 years old I walked into a record store called Harmony House. As I entered, this song played as if on cue. The clerk played the entire album and I listened to every note gob struck. It was an epiphany in a world of ubiquitous, soulless, pop and hair metal that there could be real poetry, real authenticity and real darkness in music. I've been a Lou Reed fan ever since. Having front row seats to his concert when he came to Detroit was one of the best musical moments I ever had. Thanks Lou for broadening my horizons and for being an artist in the truest sense of the word.

This was his magnum opus - Transformer was just "good" in comparison

I grew up in NYC during the 70s and 80s. I feel Lou is inside my head. I remember strutting up the dark mean streets with my friends. "I betcha I could hit that light with my one good hand behind my back"

Those were the good old days: Walk into a music store and everything is just fine for the duration.

I miss him.

"and something flickered for a minute, and then vanished and was gone." -- Lou at his best.

pure poetry !

Exactly.....that line gets me every time. Achingly tragic.....poetry indeed. I miss you Lou 😟

Such great lyrics....

Reallity flicks, like a flash back, every once in a while, for those who are waking up. Somewhat, like an sttacatto of signals! If you concentrate on it, you might go foward, if you don`t, who knows...!

The lyrics alone make this cd a classic

is romeo giving juliet a do it yourself abortion in the first part of this song?

A compression of words....poetry

Subtle, yet powerful!

This album was pure poetry. But then again, everything he did was. Will always miss you, Lou Reed.

and take China aND ... keep trucking...

hey... this is the best from ... don't need to say.. but he knows who he is.

I adore this song brill track

The coolest song ever written, Ever!

16 eejits indicated that they DIDN'T Like this? How many more such eejits yet to come, one has to wonder! "It's hard to give a shit these days," especially when it comes to such eejits as those.

And something flickered for a minute and then it vanished and was gone

There's just something so Insolent about this guy that makes me laugh and laugh in delight! Hail the great Lou Reed!

The Alltime Heavyweight Champion Cool Song. This is it.

Manhattan's sinking like a rock into the filthy Hudson, what a shock! They wrote a book about it, they said it was like Ancient Rome!

Mark: EXACTLY!!

with de BOZO as Mayor, you bet it's sinking!!

It will continue to sink till evil Ghoulianni dies, thus restoring order to the universe..

You misunderstood it, and, not only, you misinterpreted it. It is not only Manhattan. America is becoming Ancient Rome! Wake Up!

This song knocked me on my ass when I first heard it. I said, The Velvets ride again!

The lyrics are not just good, they are Monumental!

Hey Bob Dylan, I don't know!

The coolest song ever written by anyone anywhere anytime.

What about freebird

Even cooler than Freebird, if such a thing is possible! Cooler than Game of Thrones!

Cooler than Rick and Morty?

I hear what ya saying man...............................And I dig it!!!!!!!

and with just 3 chords 💙

I fucking love it

pardon my language but.. 'fuck that's good' ;-)

Because No One but Lou hits the issues right on the Nail,with an often fogotten humour.

Why was Lou so fucking awesome?

true artist

One of the best albums ever made and by miles the best Lou ever did

+Thomas Andersen The best album of the 80's FUCKIN EH!

Eighties? It's FAR KING Timeless, mate!

Agree. Not that this mean a shit.

Romeo was a lucky guy...

Bought this album just after it's release some years back. A powerful and brutal social commentary on the continuing state of American politics, and it's effects on our social structure and economics. Reed delivers a gut punch to the solar plexus of the American conscious. Reed dissects the seedy and tragic underside of NYC, which is a microcosm for the rest of the country. I've been listening to Reed since the 60's when he was with the Velvet Underground. This is his finest work to date. It is a shame that it isn't better known than it is.

Wow bug what an excellently written and thought provoking comment I suppose listening to Lou Reed since the 60"s rubs of on your literary style id bet you're a fan of Jim Carroll's work as well.

bug splat amen.

Brilliant comment. I guess i was lucky and had a dad with good taste on Rock and listened to this album over and over when i was like 8 or 9. I didnt pick up the political undetones, but I listened to this shit and thought to myself - man this is good music. Its ART.

Yeah, I think this is one of his best albums. I loved his social commentary and it unfortunately doesn't seem to be well recognized for the masterpiece that it is.

sorry like it a lot jejeje

Great album. Lie it a lot

One of the most underrated albums…still waiting to be discovered by the main stream!

@Tim O'Keefe This is one of the great Lou Reed album's. 1989 was a good year for Lou.

They are ALL UNDERRARTED!

@Tim O'Keefe "have to buy" ..proving that they cant hold a candle to the American way...and thats why they all want to come here or mimic Americas capitalist success....but alas,,their socialist monsters take over...and America is sadly moving that way

in the beginning the Beatles played MANY cover tunes there is a decent album from the late seventies called the Beatles Rock and roll Music

F--king GENIUS! !! Lou was a GENIUS!

Bingo! But consider giving Mozart some consideration too.

when I first heard this album, MIND BLOWN.

You should try Mozart as well.

Same. Blew me away first time. I was 22. Ive bought and given away five or six copies over the years , mostly in an attempt to be able to share this brilliant album

So great

The first three songs on this album are as good as anything Lou ever did.

Comparisons are odious.

Every Lou's song is a pic of our life. He's always great. Lou never betrays...

no one can write a song like Lou sums up being a junkie street kid from the northeast perfectly I'm not from NYC I'm from Southie Boston VU amd Lou are like the soundtrack to how i grew up

+Kelly Sherman  From Philly, same experience

Wow, I just remembered I have this LP.  I was doing a throwback Thursday thing about my college radio station and trying to think of a really good song to sum up 1989.  And this is it.  And I played it on a turntable.  Yes, I am old.  But I have an amazing collection, have seen great shows, and breathe to listen to music.  And New York--I don't think it's an album that any fans thought of in mourning recently; but it's got to be one of his best.  Pure punk poetry.  RIP Lou.

"And something flickered for a minute
and then it vanished and was gone"

Well said. RIP Mozart as well.

Which echoes the sound of toke lightly distorted, as such might be anticipated by the taking