Download "The Kids"
The Kids by Lou Reed
Performed by
Lou ReedProduced by
Bob EzrinWrited by
Lou ReedAbout
“The Kids,” one of Berlin’s hardest-hitting tracks, was initially inspired by Lou’s then-wife Bettye Kronstad, who had been taken by the state from her mother at the age of five. Reed’s co-opting of her childhood trauma for the sake of the record’s story disturbed Kronstad, whose relationship with R...
The Kids Lyrics
[Verse 1]
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because she was making it with sisters and brothers
And everyone else, all of the others
Like cheap officers who would
Stand there and flirt in front of me
[Verse 2]
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because of the things that they heard she had done
The black air force sergeant was not the first one
And all of the drugs she took
Every one, every one
[Bridge]
And I am the water boy
The real game's not over here
But my heart is overflowin' anyway
I'm just a tired man
No words to say
But since she lost her daughter
It's her eyes that fill with water
And I am much happier this way
[Verse 3]
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
'Cause number one was the girlfriend from Paris
The things that they did, ah, they didn't have to ask us
And then the Welshman from India
Who came here to stay
[Verse 4]
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because of the things she did in the streets
In the alleys and bars, no she couldn't be beat
That miserable rotten slut couldn't turn
Anyone away
[Bridge]
I am the water boy
The real game's not over here
But my heart is overflowin' anyway
I'm just a tired man
No words to say
But since she lost her daughter
It's her eyes that fill with water
And I am much happier this way