Lou Reed - Baton Rouge

lou reed baton rouge

{am/D} G
when i think of you baton rouge
Am/D G
i think of a mariachi band
Am/D G
i think of sixteen and a crisp green football field
C G
i think of the girl i never had
Am/D G
when i think of you baton rouge
Am/D G
i think of a back seat in a car
Am/D G
the windows are foggy and so are we
C G
as the police asked for our i . D .

G
so helpless
C
so helpless
G C
ooohhh , so helpless
G C
ooohhh , so helpless
G C
ooohhh , so helpless
C ( let ring )
so helpless

well i once had a car lost it in a divorce
the judge was a woman of course
she said give her the car and the house and your taste
or else i set the trial date

so now when i think of you baton rouge
and the deep southern belles , ah , with their touch
i wonder where love ends and hate starts to blush
in the fields in the swamps in the rush

in the terra – cotta cobwebs of your mind , ah
when did you start seeing me as a spider spinning web
of malicious intent and you as poor poor me
at the fire at the joint , this disinterred and broken mount
in the bedroom in the house where we were unmarried

so helpless , so helpless
so helpless
so helpless , so helpless
so helpless

when was i the villain in your heart
putting the brake on your start
you slapped my face and cried and screamed
that’s what marriage came to mean
the bitterest ending of a dream

you wanted children and i did not
was that what it was all about
you might get a laugh when you hear me shout
you might get a laugh when you hear me shout
i wish i had

so helpless , so helpless
so helpless
so helpless , so helpless
so helpless

sometimes when i think of baton rouge
i see us with two and a half strapping sons
one and a half flushed daughters preparing to marry
and two fat grandsons i can barely carry

Daddy , uncle , family gathered there for grace
a dog in a barbecue pit goes up in space
the dream recedes in the morning with a bad aftertaste
and i’m back in the big city worn from the race of the chase
what a waste

so thanks for the card the announcement of child
and i must say you and sam look great
your daughter’s gleaming in that white wedding dress
with pride
sad to say i could never bring that to you that wide smile

so i try not to think of baton rouge
or of A , of A , of a mariachi band
or of sixteen and a crisp green football field
and the girl , and the girl i never had , had , had , had

so helpless , so helpless
so helpless
so helpless , so helpless
so helpless