‘Walk on the Wild Side’ is a song by American rock musician Lou Reed from his second solo studio album, Transformer (1972). It was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson and released as a double A-side with ‘Perfect Day’. Known as a counterculture anthem, the song received wide radio coverage and became Reed's biggest hit and signature song while touching on topics considered taboo at the time, such as transgender people, drugs, male prostitution, and oral sex.
The song's lyrics, describing a series of individuals and their journeys to New York City, refer to several of the regular "superstars" at Andy Warhol's New York studio, the Factory; the song mentions Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, Jackie Curtis and Joe Campbell (referred to in the song by the nickname "Sugar Plum Fairy").
In the 2001 documentary Classic Albums: Lou Reed: Transformer, Reed says that it was Nelson Algren's 1956 novel, A Walk on the Wild Side (itself titled after the 1952 song "The Wild Side of Life"), that was the launching point for the song, even though, as it grew, the song became inhabited by characters from his own life. During his performance of the song on his 1978 Live: Take No Prisoners album, Reed humorously explains the song's development from a request that he write the music for the never-completed musical version of Algren's novel.
Each verse refers to one of the "superstars" at Andy Warhol's New York studio, the Factory.
- "Holly" is based on Holly Woodlawn, a transgender actress who lived in Miami Beach, Florida as a child. In 1962, after being bullied by homophobes, the fifteen-year-old ran away from home; and, as in the lyrics, learned how to pluck her eyebrows while hitchhiking to New York.
- "Candy" is based on Candy Darling, a transgender actress and the subject of an earlier song by Lou Reed, "Candy Says". She grew up on Long Island ("the island") and was a regular at "the back room" of Max's Kansas City.
- "Little Joe" was the nickname of Joe Dallesandro, an actor who starred in Flesh, a 1968 film about a teenage hustler. Dallesandro said in 2014 that he had not yet met Reed when the song was written, and that the lyrics were based on the film character, not himself personally. However, when Reed performed ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in 1978 at The Bottom Line in New York City (when and where Take No Prisoners was recorded), he explained, "Little Joe was an idiot ... You talk to him for like two minutes and you realize he has an IQ of like 12."
- "Sugar Plum Fairy" has been described as a reference to actor Joe Campbell, who played a character by that name in Warhol's 1965 film, My Hustler. The term was a euphemism for "drug dealer". Prior to joining the Warhol crowd, Campbell was Harvey Milk's boyfriend/partner for approximately six years.
- "Jackie" is based on Jackie Curtis, another Warhol actress. "Speeding" and "crashing" are drug references. Curtis at one time hoped to play the role of James Dean in a movie; Dean was killed in a car crash.
The lyrics of ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ were groundbreaking and risqué for their time, telling stories not usually told in rock songs up to then and containing references to prostitution, transgender people, and oral sex. "I always thought it would be kinda fun to introduce people to characters they maybe hadn't met before, or hadn't wanted to meet", Reed said. ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ became a worldwide hit. The single peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in early 1973. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as the 223rd greatest song of all time.
Label – RCA
Songwriter – Lou Reed
Producers – David Bowie, Mick Ronson
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Holly came from Miami, F-L-A
Hitchhiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
[Chorus]
She says, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
Said, "Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side"
[Verse 2]
Candy came from out on the Island
In the backroom, she was everybody's darling
But she never lost her head
Even when she was giving head
[Chorus]
She says, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
Said, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
[Post-Chorus]
And the colored girls go
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo
[Verse 3]
Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New York City is the place where they said
[Chorus]
"Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
I said, "Hey Joe, take a walk on the wild side"
[Verse 4]
Sugar Plum Fairy came and hit the streets
Looking for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the Apollo
You should've seen him go, go, go
[Chorus]
They said, "Hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side"
I said, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
Alright, huh
[Verse 5]
Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would've helped that bash
[Chorus]
She said, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"
I said, "Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side"
[Post-Chorus]
And the colored girls say
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo
[Saxophone Solo]