Doin' the Things That We Want To (Live) [09/25/84 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ] Songtext
von Lou Reed

The other night, we went to see Sam′s play
Doin' the things that we want to
It was very physical, it held you to the stage
Doin′ the things that he wants to
Doin' the things that he wants to

The guy's a cowboy from some rodeo
Doin′ the things that he wants to
The girl had once loved him, but now she wants to go
Doin′ the things that she wants to
Doin' the things that she wants to

The man was bullish, the woman was a tease
Doin′ the things that they want to
They fought with their words, their bodies and their deeds
Doin' the things that they want to

When they finished fighting, they exited the stage
Doin′ the things that they want to
I was firmly struck by the way they had behaved
Doin' the things that they want to
Doin′ the things that they want to


It reminds me of the movies Marty made about New York
(Doin' the things that he want to)
Those frank and brutal movies that are so brilliant
(Doin' the things that he want to)

"True Love" meet "The Raging Bull"
(Doin′ the things that he want to)
They′re very inspirational, I love the things they do
(Doin' the things that he want to)
Doin′ the things that I want to

There's not much you hear on the radio today, hey
(Doin′ the things that we want to)
But you could still see a movie or a play
(Doin' the things that we want to)

Here′s to Travis Bickle and here's to Johnny Boy
(Doin' the things that we want to)
Growing up in the mean streets of New York
(Doin′ the things that we want to)

I wrote this song ′cause I'd like to shake your hand
(Doin′ the things that we want to)
In a way, you guys are the best friends I ever had
(Doin' the things that we want to)
Doin′ the things that we want to


That we want to
A true love