Laurie Anderson hugged me last night and it was a dream
I was in the house where her and Lou lived  and I saw some things that he had seen
not through his eyes or through his brain or through his years or through his heart or the blood that ran through his veins or his pleasure and pain I saw the Hudson and imagined that maybe the house had remained

just as it was until Lou's last days
we were there and for 3 or 4 hours and it was so unreal that I forgot my name
and Laurie gave me a hug it felt like a dream

I'm not the kind of guy who would reveal the details of what caught my eye
at their house to random girls and guys
with the exception of a birthday gift given to him by Muhammad Ali  
that was framed and in that moment I was frozen and  it was just i and me
 [bad word] and I thought oh my god
what 2 powerful independent minds 
if the two of them conversed
it would probably be the greatest conversation ever in the history of the universe 

I thought what two strong brave individual minds
and I am nothing but a speck of sand on the beach but so am I 
if you don't like this song or what i have to say then
 [bad word] off and listen to Bye Bye Miss American Pie
because it's from my heart and so is this next line

i'm a black sheep baby and I'll eat you alive
and I'm kind and gentle and I'm good listener and I can read people's eyes
and I'm fun to be around and I'm endearing and can sing songs that make grown men cry
and if you're down and out i'm not the type to tense up so spill it baby don't be shy

Caroline and Laurie shared a love of Rat Terriers
but I walked to the Muhammad Ali framed photo and I stared at it
at least a few times for it was all too much as Ali had recently died
and I couldn't help thinking all of our time [bad word] 
you you  you and you and you too and I

tonight I walked around New York all on my own
between Broadway and 5th and 28th and 34th
I've always loved 32nd street Korean way 
the women's bodies around there are curvy and wrapped beautifully 
they look like walking decorative  vases 
and all the wonderful tastes of Bulgogi and Kalbi
and the y red soup with bean curd and the spicy Kimchi
and Madison Square Garden and Joe Louis Plaza
and Jack's Dempsey's  and Macy's and I'm sentimental about
many things in this 6 by 2 by block radius

but tonight Lou was still on my mind he had a stunning view of the water as do I
back in San Francisco I look at small distant cities and I watch the boats pass
it was less than three years ago that I walked on stage in London just as I heard that Lou had died
I played Caroline Says and The Kids and I talked for a bit and I wanted to cry
'cause at the Vancouver Olympics I had briefly met Lou
and what his album Berlin meant to me I'm not even gonna to try to explain it to you

this year has been a  strange [bad word] 
people gettin' killed in America and France and two 12 year old girls
are being tried as adults for attempted murder
where was their father where was their mother while they were bein'
brain washed by Slenderman, brother?
and [bad word] is all over the TV
Let's face it we asked for this [bad word]  because we've been surpassed by technology
we've have our head sup our asses sending selfies around the planet
and  getting' [bad word] over by cars while we jerk off to Pokeman mon
so here's this [bad word] spouting off and if you think you took
no part in his place in this world
then you're fired  because you've not been paying attention and your apprenticeship expired

I've digressed but I keep following my path that lead me from first hearing Berlin when I was 19
to The Power Of The Heart
where at Lou's tribute concert I sung and I was honored to have taken part
and the night was magical and humid and dark 
Laurie looked for sun Lou looked for rain well she had sun that day and at night Lou had his rain
and I did what I came here to do and shared the Lincoln Center stage
with all of that talent and those amazing singers
and all of those original brains

and tonight from 32nd I hear siren's creepin' up and trailin' off
and as a walked I saw Sbarro's and thought of my very first trip to New York
1992 all i could afford was Pizza and Dunkin Donuts and I had 20 bucks
left over that I spent on  a stripper behind a window who reached down and jerked me off
I had a cassette Walkman back then and knew a girl who lived in The Bronx

we went out one night and saw a movie Glenn Gary Glenn Ross
I remembered that just now in this humidity as I turn and I toss
thinkin' about Lou and the beautiful things he had not what he had lost
friends and poetry the love of his life and his beautiful house

and I'm gonna go to sleep now as in this moment there's nothin' more to write 
thank you Laurie I'm forever grateful for that night

--

Music by Justin Broadrick/Words by Mark Kozelek