‘Downtown Dirt’ was an outtake from the Coney Island Baby sessions which was later reworked for Reed’s 1978 album ‘Street Hassle’ for which the title was shortened to ‘Dirt.’
This outtake is notable for featuring former Velvet Underground member Doug Yule performing on bass guitar.
[Verse 1]
Picking up pieces of information
Down on the docks
Picking up pieces of information about you
And how to pick locks
Scouting around on the Lower East Side on mattresses in the rain
Those uptown ladies with their uptown coats
Come down here to get laid
[Bridge 1]
It's a boring macho trip
And I'm the type that fascinates
[Verse 2]
Hey, Mrs. Pamela Brown, how's the Dakota?
You're twenty-eight years old and your face has been lifted
But you still look so much older
You bit the soil, your linen is drab
You got the crabs
The things they sell you, your credit cards
I love you for it
I love you for it
[Bridge 2]
Sell your sugar, I'm a humanitarian
I give it all to myself
That way you're clean and I stay out of debt
Hm
[Verse 3]
And psychologically you know
Hey, psychologically it's better that I think that I'm dirt
Psychologically it's better that I think that I'm dirt
Don't you know it's better that I think that I'm dirt
Hey don't you like to have some dirt
That all it's worth, it's just dirt
Cheap, cheap damn dirt
[Outro]
Hey Pam, dirt
Cheap dirt
Dirt
Uptown dirt
Dirt
Downtown Dirt was written by Lou Reed.
Downtown Dirt was produced by Godfrey Diamond & Lou Reed.
Lou Reed released Downtown Dirt on Tue Apr 14 1992.