Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground
Walk on the Wild Side
Original Translation of Slang

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

  

Holly transvestite actress Holly Woodlawn, star of Andy Warhol's 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

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

  

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 to a man




colored African-American. Acceptable at the time the song was written but now considered impolite

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

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

  

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



T

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)
'em them
sugar an endearment
Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would have helped that bash
Said, Hey babe,
Take a walk on the wild side
I said, Hey honey,
Take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls say,
doo do doo do doo do do doo		   Jackie Jackie Curtis, another transvestite actress in Warhol films speeding away double meaning: going fast in a car/high on speed (amphetamines) or other similar drug
James Dean 50s movie star famous for dying in an car crash
to crash double meaning: car crash/come down badly from a speed high
Valium a relaxing prescription drug, popular in the 1960s, and also taken illegally for recreational use. bash crash

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