Lou Reed -- Kill Your Sons

[bi_janus]

Take your poets where you find them.

When Reed was a teenager in 1956 he received Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy in part as an attempt by his parents to cure his sexual interest in men. He used the experience to write Kill Your Sons, a song-poem I've always admired.

[JamesSavik]

Kill Your Sons

Lou Reed

All your two-bit psychiatrists
are giving you electroshock
They said, they'd let you live at home with mom and dad
instead of mental hospitals
But every time you tried to read a book
you couldn't get to page 17
'Cause you forgot where you were
so you couldn't even read

Don't you know they're gonna kill your sons
don't you know gonna kill, kill your sons
They're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run away

Mom informed me on the phone
she didn't know what to do about dad
Took an axe and broke the table
aren't you glad you're married
And sister, she got married on the island
and her husband takes the train
He's big and he's fat
and he doesn't even have a brain

They're gonna kill your sons
don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
Don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run away

Creedmore treated me very good
but Paine Whitney was even better
And when I flipped out on PHC
I was so sad, I didn't even get a letter
All of the drugs, that we took
it really was lots of fun
But when they shoot you up with thorizene on crystal smoke
you choke like a son of a gun

Don't you know they're gonna kill your sons
don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
Don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run, run, run, run, run, run, run away

[colinian]

When you go to the end of this vid there are a lot of other Lou Reed tracks to choose from, including 'Walk on the Wild Side' and 'Sweet Jane'. There's also a live performance of 'Kill your Sons' from 1984. They are worth a listen.

Colin