Lou Reed - The Gun

[JordanKavanagh1993]

have you ever been to the junkies boneyard roman??

[DJcrackahead]

It's an unpleasant place

called curl up and die.

Might sound like a hair salon...

...but it don't fucking look like one,

I can tell you.

It's a terrible sight,

and a horrible sound listening to a man...

...sucking his soul

through the hole in the pipe...

[railzFF]

rock'n'rolla!

[gollychick]

Soooo chiiiiill

[seppapio]

Animal dies with fear in his eyes...

[Skyedward1313]

It's not a metaphor, it's about a murderer who broke into a couples house and he raped and killed a mans wife as the husband sat and watched and didn't do anything because the murderer had a gun.  the guy ended up killing the husband afterwards anyway. What a dumbass. The song rocks btw :) love the melodie *peace*

[superbiringhello]

Lou, if God exists actually he's mute for lending you his voice..

[ignjat92]

Is it only me who thinks the gun is a metaphor for his dick??

[emopuppy123456789]

@ignjat92 lol

[MrGutsMan]

@ignjat92 Yea, it;s you

[markindenberken]

when im stoned, this somg brings me in a trance, where i just listen to this song.

[GUNNAHZ70]

put a hole in your face if you even breathe a word.......fucking top world class fucking lyrics,

contextually perfect

[jordyboy321]

DONT HURT ME ARCH...IM ONLY LITTLE!

[JazzyIlluminati]

does anyone else get strangely turned on by this song?

if not,me either..

*looks both ways*

[nurb16]

@JazzyIlluminati i do.... and i aslso giggle everytime he says "dont touch him stay away from him he's got a gun"

[JazzyIlluminati]

@nurb16 haha awesome ;P

[SamsonOff7]

Can anybody tell me some songs of Velvet Underground that Lou reed sang.?

[CompuGlobalHyper]

@SamsonOff7 Heroin, Venus in Furs, White Light/White Heat...

[cosmicguru]

no shit about beginning an addict is the last shot

[Curtossss]

First time I've listened to this song and I can honestly say I'm speechless!

[JohnAllanification]

@Curtossss

it's damn good,isn't it ?

[wiickedyeah]

Amazing in Rock N Rolla

[fredblassie123]

the opening sounds like a new day rising....then the lyrics bring the nightmare alive...amazing song.

[leandrovik]

if you have an issue whit drugs, and include alcohol while you are there, Just burn your books, you music, the paintings everithing! when you are going to realize that drugs where never the problem, the problem is allways the man. The one carring the gun.

[XxMDAxX]

i'll put a hole in your face, if you even breathe a word.

[russellt33]

this song should be huge...like im young idk if this used to be huge, cuz it should have been

[Philpot1992]

best song to listen to stoned

[montanadrama4short]

Lou Reed makes some wild ass Music. And I love it. Listen to the song Heroin, Ohhh Man It's just so good, I picked it up 1 day when I was watchimh the Doors, and they kept playing this strange, but very doothing song, His Voice is un Remakable, it;s 1 of a kind. yeah baby, Take a walk on the Wild Side,,lol . I love old Rock. It's Nothimg like today's trash we have to put up with, allthough, i just found a new Radio Station 96.9 in NY, and it's pretty fucking great.

[DjBiggens]

IDK why but for some reason when i listen to this song i feel like a badass

[Carrale086]

this song is wonderfull

[Raistlin13Majere]

@tamerswan

RocknRolla

[Realkill010]

This song is about a criminal who captured a man and his wife. He raped his wife with him seeing that. He couldn't do anything because the criminal had a gun.

[mustafazorlu]

this song allwayz reminds me of when i moved back to london and i didn't know any one and i whould just get stoned all day in the park till night lying down on the grass listening to this song

[histerria]

wow, you guys are total dicks...

calm the fuck down, he just said that he was addicted to heroin no need to bash.

[Overlorddz]

hell of song.. yesterday i was listening to it while a guy in another city shot up a mall and killed 10 people including a child and himself

[mahir96]

I love the song but the singer just really ruined the song :(

[adamspun]

@mahir96 eh? thats makes no sence what so ever.

[docterherb88]

That bass is so crazy

[xiz22]

@docterherb88 killer

[luvdah8ers]

pls pls make a part 2.

[Overlorddz]

@luvdah8ers  the song or the movie?

[TheJudgewatson]

this is great, one of my favorites

[joseagjr9444]

@tamerswan its called Rock N Rolla dude

[betheperson1]

@joseagjr9444

BEST

MOVIE

FUCKIN

EVAR!!!!

[sherbert500]

can only write lyrics like this if you have experienced this sort of shit so you little rich kids hope you never have to lol

[Tee2theBag]

Best Bass Riff I've Ever Heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[animaldee]

to anyone who wants to put down Lou Reed you are so wrong he has so much to offer

[someoneinthedark1]

Don't touch him, don't touch him

Stay away from him, he's got a gun

[hilarymclean]

"i'll put a hole in your face if you even breathe a word"

ahhhhh, lou never ceases to be fucking spectacular

so glad i found this

[Vemnar123]

Lets not make drugs out to be the hero here because they have ruined many lives even though they have also inspired to but obviously great music can be made without them just like this song cause this was lou's first record sober and it was my favorite as well as many others and check out steven tyler he is still on drugs and just sucks now drugs are not the way but the music and inspiration artist feel from things are

[xXxLiLPikeyxXx]

Thank you Rock n Rolla.

[cricketforever]

@xXxLiLPikeyxXx you mean thank you guy ritchie!

[KnightBroz]

Good song. But if you carry a gun, predator will get ya. Its coz he aint natural. Hes a hunter from space. Theres no beatin a fuck ugly alien with crazy targeting future gun shit on his shoulder. Arnie did it without a gun. But guns are still kinda cool. And so is this song btw. Good song. yeah. Im outtie. word ma dog. diggidy dog homie log yeah

[Magoiichi]

"He'll point it at your mouth, says that he'll blow your brains out" Best part of the whole song.

[sakib159]

nice song

[totallytruestory]

I kind of see it as someone living on the streets and being tough, carrying a gun on them, but being terrified. Jumpy, scared. And eventually the streetlife of guns turn him into a monster. Maybe it's just something in his voice.

[cricketforever]

this takes me to that special place

[TheBooyackashaa]

so good

[bodiza420]

Rocknrolla.. "Junkies.. I shit em.."

[methman69]

it's about the power that guns give you. if you're weak, you will be a jerk. that's what lou's sayin.

[birdhaldol]

Lou is pretty good. this tune is great. When I sold Lou this song and a gun he understood IT WAS ABOUT a NY Thug Jew making southern Christian husbands watch him rape their wives. So I said "Lou I am going to break your nose...2 Demoral Now or after?"..."Now". He SHOT THEM UP in front of me BUT I DID NOT SEE IT. A talented drug-addict City Slicker, he is. He tried kicking me in the balls after I broke his nose.So I broke his ankle. I carry painkillers because I seriously injure people.

[melntoby]

guy ritchie has got a real knack for choosing the appropriate song for his movies this is another great example

[Overlorddz]

@melntoby well i do not totally agree with you because i like the song more than i like ritchies movies after revolver

[ThePongo666]

lou reed was a herion addict

[Audio4You]

@ThePongo666 Alot of great musicians were/still are, addicted to drugs, what is your point exactly?

[iamjohn89]

@Audio4You oh yeah mate the list is endless kinda makes you wonder would their music be as good if they were sober

[respect4women]

Drugs,of any type(alcohol,tobacco,firearms,­adrenaline,grass,heroine etc etc etc)do not inspire us to do anything.They help us,however,very much,to express,to manifest ourselves in a usual discussion or in a love declaration, a suicide note or a promotion request.Why do they do that?Why do we need them?I believe-and of course it is debatable-because we live in a very,very repressed society,we don't know how to be free,we don't even know what it is to be free.We do not know even what pleasure is..

[betheperson1]

@respect4women

i know what pleasure is

ur mom gave me pleasure last night BAM

no, jokes, jokes

i know what you mean

[killazftw]

@Audio4You yeh mate, Elvis, Steven Tyler, Nikki Six, etc man... anyways... it's fitting that Lou Reed was a heroin addict, this song was in the movie Rock 'N' Rolla where the main character Johnny Quid is also a heroin addict

[ilipsoussan]

@Audio4You take drugs

[MrIwasthere]

@Audio4You exactly



[maximilian333]

@Audio4You It's nearly a prerequisite to great rockery... "they do it so we don't have to"

[RockerWarrenMOViES]

@Audio4You Well I'm gonna have to try some of that Herion cause the songs they write/make are fucking awesome !

[Biggshownob]

@ThePongo666 And your point?....... tool

[kit4n0]

no shitt :P ., really .,dang .

[KillTheSpammer]

@ThePongo666

wow, you are so perfectly trained person!

maybe the best instructed person in the whole music biz..............o_o

[RobotNinjaShark09]

@ThePongo666 True story bro.

[patoo1000]

@ThePongo666 So!

[HousWaus1]

@ThePongo666 its more the fame and backstage parties that bring the drugs, trust me

[iganzabissassa]

@ThePongo666

You don't say?

[CRAWBURGER]

@ThePongo666 He was more of a speed freaK/ALCOHOLIC...his heroin use has been overplayed due to songs like 'Heroin','Waiting For The Man'

[fopedarmerr]

@ThePongo666 listen to pat the bunny

[yanniragle]

@ThePongo666 So i am a heroin addict

[Overlorddz]

@ThePongo666 sure thats pretty cool huh?

[adamspun]

@ThePongo666 and the sky is blue

[soul7food]

@ThePongo666 so what if the guy took some?...i don't care a rat's ass. why, let me stick a needle in yar American-redneck-hypocryte ass. This song's 'bout A GUN, bloke, not stuff..

[jbrahin]

@ThePongo666 Oh....let's deny the music of all the musicians who used drugs? Start with Charley Parker, Ray Charles. John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Keith Richards, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain...you want more, you ignorant moron? He was also bisexual...shall we dismiss that category too...and what about booze. Art is art.

[MrVonDro]

@jbrahin all he said was that he was a heroin addict. More of a fact than an opinion. Relax....

[flame21066]

@ThePongo666 so are a sixteenth of the people you see everyday

[VirtualMoai]

@ThePongo666 I think he wasn't ...

[PrinzEugenMCMLXXXIII]

@ThePongo666 Fucking retard.

[adzyb69]

@ThePongo666 Actually...I don't think he was.

[campbelllovescock]

@adzyb69 yea he was 

[plateofglue]

@ThePongo666 shoot up and overdose :] tell satan hi for me

[SamsonOff7]

@ThePongo666 Tell him the friggin point already.

[kerrermanis]

I always think this song is on about a guy robbing a family (husband, wife & kid). And the guy (the gun) is kind of a sadist..

Great song IMHO

[nekrasaaya]

@kerrermanis pretty much what I get out of it too

[Beatmyguest001]

Superb song.

[OneManAndHisToaster]

was this guy high when he recorded this music...? :|

[TheSid2]

The heroine interpretation, with the "gun = needle", is interesting, but I throw that out the door the moment he says "Browning 9mm, lets just see what he can do."

I also think the ending to the song has the guy with said Browning 9mm, who was trying to defend his wife, die trying. Doesn't seem like the bad guys get it at the end, at least to me.

[Jah560]

Although its talkin about guns n violence, somehow I can listen to this song every night before I go to bed..Some dismissed, bt a great music...

[JonnyMonk3782001]

Coolest bassline ever.

[Despanzurreitor]

@JonnyMonk3782001 Sure? Listen to The Clash (Paul Simonon)

[TheZup3]

@Despanzurreitor please name a song that even comes close to comparing. not to knock the clash, but i'm getting sick of listening to their junk in the hopes of finding 1 cool base riff. seriously.

[ederfeder1]

i wish I could turn off the lyrics and just listen to the beats.. DAMN

[Dorianhamilton]

It's also about heroin has nothing to do with violence. The Gun = the needle... Junkie Jargon... Perhaps it has more than one meaning though.

[simmer1234]

@Dorianhamilton i was just about ot say this song was about heroin but you got there first. its not good to know junkie jargon but it helps to when listerning to song like this

[Dorianhamilton]

It's about heroin has nothing to do with violence. The Gun = the needle... Junky Jargon

[Krypto282]

This song always brushed off on me with a bit of a sarcastic tone, idk why but that's just the idea I get from it

[xDisengagedxDollx]

@Krypto282 That's what I hear too- a sarcastic and also bemused tone, kind of as if to mock gun popularity or attitudes.

When I go through all the lyrics and how he sings them, it seems to me to be about the sense of false or undeserved respect and power abusive people will get for having a gun and "knowing how to use it".

[ezramead]

This song is about the Robert Kennedy assasination, the madness that ensued

[milanium07]

Well I believe the songs about how quick people, situations, and just general power changes when someone pulls out a piece. If anyone has been in a place where a pistol is pulled on them then they would understand more about what I'm trying to say. Not exactly agree with me. But...you know.

[mustafazorlu]

best tune ever made!!

[HellBillyTrash]

VID OF THE DAY!

[Jpbremner]

seems like hes being sarcastic at the end......the way he says the last couple of lines,, like hes almost mocking himself.

[matty28ify]

what an awsome song

[OctoDili]

Threefatties-- it's not at all about heroin. Lou is being straightforward about this one. No metaphors here, you stupid fuck.

[Meeriio]

RockNRolla Soundtrack :D

[yolo22]

so dreamy

[InfernoGruv]

i would rather say this song is about human brutality, a beautifull brutality witch we are all part of, being a victim or the bastard with gun, don't contradict me or mess with me, im carrying a gun, im serius, drirty animal, watch your face.

[poolshark218]

Gun= Herion. All of you are retarded. Except three fatties. Who is awesome btw.

[shesmadeleine]

@poolshark218 how the fuck is it about heroin? you think you're being clever by alluding to reed's past heroin addiction? its about a gun, violence and power.

[babichkata]

love the bass

[plushyshotgun1]

try it while stoned....it's the best feeling I've ever had...

[aclockworkkelly]

this song is addictive

[cooliouno1233]

hells ya love this song lou is so inspirational

[TheJamesVincent]

I'll be honest, this song makes me wanna take a sedative and slip away..........

[Envee211]

This song is awesome. I like how it has a light hearted feeling somewhat, yet still sounds oh so depressing. It's like he enjoys the fact that he carries the gun but he doesn't recognize the consquences of using it.

[katiscaligari]

I rather like the bass, too

[WillemMijndert]

Such a nice song!

The threat of the street and the way it creeps into your mind. I bet he took no drugs while recording this song. It's only his gift; don't reflect your feelings on this song 'cause that's what his gift is about!

[louiseduvee]

The title song on this album is hard-core (purist hard-core). Thanks for the great audio! And, for the lyrics.

[timorez]

Chimps only like the sounds of other monkey twats.....Top tune-simple like the chimps reveiw!

[steveooo07o]

this is awsome such a simple good soundin lick

[pouzo]

one of his best songs.the sound,his voice makes you feel they he was when he wrote that song..maybe dugs lead your emotions to another world

[AxisOfEternity]

@pouzo

They kinda do. I'd say they lead you to another consciousness...

[Darkstepper219]

lou reed was the best when he was on heroin, like on this song.

[jrobertwood]

The bass playing is so great on this song.

[bloodsuckingfly]

this is so trippy song

[Oneiii]

willwkrueger: well put man! couldn't agree more

[NicolasVladimirov]

it's an unpleasant place called Curl up and die

[589216001]

Omg this is what music is!

[NewfieBullett]

Well Said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joeho318]

rocknrolla

[IamMarklar]

I think it's about a man goat lovin. The gun is a metaphore for his cock and the ''dirty animal" on the bed is the goat....... you fuckin idiots

[stevocooko]

No I think the reference of a dirty animal is for you my hostile friend.

[Cyanesence]

The song is about drugs and shooting up

[threefatties]

this song is about heroin, his gun is his needle, you stupid fucks.

[hanusanus666]

@threefatties: he never used heroin, he was addicted to Fanta and artificial sugar pills.

[2992isthatall]

i am carrying a gun, till i die

[Doderhultarn89]

good for you

[2992isthatall]

are you proud of me?

thanks.

[davehp1954]

Is he singing about Leonard Cohen in the song My House(,as a poet and his mentor) ?

[MrAshDawg]

dont worry, hes carrying a gun.

[seanoco7]

i think northern canada is as a matter, lots of aboriginal hopelessness,; too bad sad stuff. but i agree that i don't hink this song is about suicide it is ...........

[fward101]

or maybe a song is just a song

w/e u wanna make outta it go ahead

give ur opinion

[willwkrueger]

why are people prompted to interpret this song as being about suicide? If you listen to the lyrics it really doesn't suggest that. its about street violence, gun violence, rape and has a sort of 'bad guys never win' message. I'd assume the assailant is shot by someone else with a gun in the end as a sort of 'karma' type of thing. this is not kurt cobain "i hate myself and i want to die" but rather more of a nyc mean streets narrative

[hanusanus666]

@willwkrueger yeah you're right, I like to think it's about a kinda violent spiteful guy who's all paranoid from treating people badly so he's "carrying a gun" as protection from his own perceived fear of karma and also to put fear in other people. The gun is like a subconcious effort of sorts to keep people at a distance. Phew.

[eSKiUKNZ1989]

@willwkrueger This song, this Music. It means something different to every person. The meaning might be true to Lou Reed, or to the small minded who examine the song until they've sucked all the meaning and emotion out of it, but to you the meaning of the song can mean anything you want it to. Thats the beauty of music.

[NewFriiiikan]

@willwkrueger

FYI I hate myself and want to die is a parody from Kurt to suicide songs. And good point about the song :)

[XxXJUSTCAUSEXxX]

@willwkrueger Great input.

[IGuitarV2]

@willwkrueger No lie, Great interpretation yet it's not that hard to get the meaning.

[ijizz420]

@willwkrueger while i agree with you, i dont think kurt hated himself, just .. more his situation..

[rishsn]

@willwkrueger

right on will.

"i'm carrying a gun...that's right i'm carrying a gun"

[patoo1000]

@rishsn If you have ever been into combat you will know that carrying a gun does not make you safe, it makes you a target!

[Benedict7227]

@willwkrueger it always like that with Lou Reed, that's what makes him a genious