Street Hassle Songtext
von Lou Reed

Waltzing Matilda whipped out her wallet
Sexy boys smiled in dismay
She took out four twenties ′cause she liked round figures
Everybody's queen for a day

Oh, babe, I′m on fire, and you know that I admire your body
Why don't we slip away?
Although I'm sure you′re certain, it′s a rarity me flirtin'
Sha-la-la-la this way, hey
Oh, sha-la-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la-la, hey, baby
Come on, let′s slip away

Luscious and gorgeous, oh, what humping muscle
Call out the National Guard
She creamed in her jeans as he picked up her knees
From off of the Formica topped bar

And cascading slowly, he lifted her wholly and boldly
Out of this world
And despite people's derision proved to be more than diversion
And sha-la-la-la-la later on


And then sha-la-la-la-la
He entered her slowly and showed her where he was coming from
And then sha-la-la-la-la, he made love to her gently
It was like she′d never ever come
And then sha-la-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la-la
When the sun rose and he made to leave
You know, sha-la-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la-la
Neither one regretted a thing

Slip away

Hey, that cunt's not breathing
I think she′s had too much of something or other
Hey, man, you know what I mean?
I don't mean to scare you
But you're the one who came here
And you′re the one who′s gotta take her when you leave

I'm not being smart, or trying to be cold on my part
And I′m not gonna wear my heart on my sleeve
But you know, people get all emotional
And sometimes, man, they just don't act rationally, oh
They think they′re just on TV
Sha-la-la-la-la, man
Why don't you just slip her away?


You know, I′m glad that we met, man
It was really nice talking
And I really wish that there was a little more time to speak
But you know it could be a hassle
Trying to explain myself to a police officer
About how it was your old lady who got herself stiffed

And it's not like we could help
But there was nothing no one could do
And if there was, man, you know I would have been the first
But when someone turns that blue, well, it's a universal truth
Then you just know that bitch will never fuck again

By the way, that′s really some bad shit
That you came to our place with
But you ought to be more careful around the little girls
It′s either the best or it's the worst
And since I don′t have to choose, I guess I won't
And I know this ain′t no way to treat a guest
But why don't you grab your old lady by the feet
And just lay her out in the darkest street
And by morning, she′s just another hit-and-run

You know, some people got no choice
And they can never find a voice
To talk with that they can even call their own
So the first thing that they see that allows them the right to be
Why, they follow it, you know, it's called bad luck

Well hey, man, that's just a lie
It′s what she tells her friends
′Cause a real song, the real song she won't even admit to herself
The beating in her heart
It′s a song lots of people know
It's a painful song
With a load of sad truth
But life′s full of sad songs

Penny for a wish
But wishin' won′t make you so, Joe
But a pretty kiss or a pretty face can't have its way
Joe, tramps like us, we were born to pay

Love has gone away
And there's no one here now
And there′s nothing left to say
But oh, how I miss him, baby
Oh, baby, come on and slip away
Come on, baby
Why don′t you slip away?

Love has gone away
Took the rings off my fingers
And there's nothing left to say
But oh, how, oh, how I need it, baby
Come on, baby, I need you, baby
Oh, please don′t slip away
I need your loving so bad, babe
Please don't slip away