Walk on the Wild Side
Dear AC,
I haven't been to your site for a while, but it seems like you used to have an explanation of who's who in the song "Walk on the Wild Side." Where is it?
Mike from SF
Dear Mike,
Sorry! That page got lost in a site update, but I'm adding the translation of the 1972 song by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground here:
lyrics
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the USA
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
She said, Hey honey
Take a walk on the wild side
notes
Holly—transvestite actress Holly Woodlawn, star of Andy Warhol's film Trash (1970) Woodlawn is still acting, most notably in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998) with Sean Hayes of Will & Grace
F.L.A.—Florida
Hitchhiked—got car rides from strangers
he was a she—he became a woman
babe—an endearment, from baby
Take a walk on the wild side—do something crazy
honey—an endearment
lyrics
Candy came from out on the Island
In the backroom she was everybody's darlin'
But she never lost her head
Even when she was giving head
She says, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
Said, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls go
doo do doo do doo do do doo
notes
Candy—Candy Darling, a transvestite actress in Andy Warhol films. Lou Reed also wrote "Candy Says" about her in 1969
the Island—Long Island, NY
darlin'—darling, girlfriend
lost her head—lost her composure
giving head—giving oral sex
colored—African-American. Acceptable at the time the song was written but now considered impolite.
lyrics
Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New York City's the place where they said, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
I said, Hey Joe
Take a walk on the wild side
notes
Little Joe—nickname of actor Joe Dallesandro, who appeared in Warhol's films Trash, Flesh, and Heat.
gave it away—had sex for free
hustle—prostitution
lyrics
Sugar Plum Fairy came and hit the streets
Lookin' for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the Apollo
You should've seen 'em go go go
They said, Hey sugar
Take a walk on the wild side
I Said, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
All right, huh
notes
Sugar Plum Fairy—nickname of Warhol actor Joe Campbell (originally the name of a character in The Nutcracker ballet. Fairy is a derogatory term for gay men. And though it is probably coincidental, nuts also has the double meaning of testicles.)
hit the streets—went to the streets
soul food—Southern food popular with African-Americans
Apollo—a famous African-American nightclub in Harlem (NYC)
sugar—an endearment
Your pal,
A. C. Kemp
July 6, 2021 (originally published in 2003)
