Song Analysis Of The Song 'Heroin' By Lou Reed

The Velvet Underground was a band from the New York area, active from 1964 to 1973. At the time when their albums came out they got very little recognition, but today they have found a larger audience and because of the touchy subject matter of some of their songs and the nihilistic themes throughout their discography they essentially paved the road for punk rock and alternative/indie music. When they were making music they were the polar opposite of what was happening on the west coast with the hippies and the love movement, in 1967 no one was making music as dark and innovative as the Velvet Underground. The lead guitarist/vocalist and songwriter, Lou Reed wrote the song “Heroin”. In “Heroin” Lou Reed brilliantly symbolizes what it is like

to shoot heroin, he does not state whether he is for or against it, but rather lets the listener decide; when he states his external and internal conflicts I believe he is trying to give a warning by showing how he uses heroin to fill the holes in his life and block out the evils of the world, and how it leaves him feeling alienated from his life, him self, and society.

The purpose of the song is to recreate the feelings and thoughts that a junkie has while experiencing heroin. Right from the start Lou Reed established his Ethos, he was a known heroin user, and he even says so him self! What is great about this song is how the music is as

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brilliant as the lyrics, very primal. The instrumentation seems to symbolize the theme of the song. The slow start symbolizes the flow from the rush, slowly building up becoming
increasingly more chaotic, and then slowly coming down again, the raving guitar and screeching viola represent the users state of mind, and the pounding drums are the heartbeat. The song as a whole is very symbolic.

Lou never advocates or opposes the use of heroin, the song is simply about it.

In the beginning of the first verse, Lou’s description of what he feels when he shoots heroin, “When I’m rushing on my run and I feel just like Jesus’ son”, emphasizes how he uses heroin to escape from his life. Lou still does not state why heroin is so great, although feeling like the son of God would be a great feeling, it does not establish why he chooses to do heroin. Throughout the song however, he gives more details that show he understands that heroin can hurt him or even kill him. By stating that “I’ve made the big decision, I’m gonna try to nullify my life… When I’m closing in on death”, Lou is using logos to show that he knows heroin will one day be the death of him. He also states that no one can stop him, he knows what it can do to him but he has chosen to devote his life to it, therefore alienating himself from his own life. In the third verse where Lou states that he wishes he was born a thousand years ago he uses pathos to establish that the effects of heroin are enjoyable for him because he escapes the the troubles of the big city. He uses imagery and is extremely descriptive when he is describing his ideal life, sailing the darkened seas, he wishes to be exploring unknown places, in a purer world away from the city. He ends this longing for adventure by stating that he just doesn’t know, he wants another life but just imagining it will not cut it, he is alienated from his

life.
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Lou is also alienated from himself, or in other words his goals, thoughts and ideas. It seems that “just not knowing” is a continuing theme throughout the song. At the end of each verse Lou states “And I guess I just don’t know”. Lou’s repetition of this phrase throughout the
song really makes a point to the listener. He has no idea what he wants to do with himself. He is not in touch with himself at all, it is apparent that the only thing that he continually truly cares about is heroin. At the beginning of the third verse Lou states “Heroin, be the death of me / Heroin it’s my wife and its my life”. The author is appealing to pathos by stating how heroin is his life and wife, you realize he is using the drug to fill empty spots in his life, eliciting feelings of sadness for him. Notice how his wife, heroin, will also be the death of him, but he really doesn’t care. There is another prime example of this carelessness at the end of the fourth verse. He thanks God that he’s good as dead, that he’s not aware, and that he just doesn’t care. He is saying that he is thankful that he is not aware and ultimately does not care. By thanking God that he is good as dead it would seem that he is unhappy with being an addict, he just doesn’t care enough to make any changes. He does not care if he dies. This nihilism could only be countered by finding a purpose to live, but again he states “I guess I just don’t know”. Lou is so clouded by heroin that he cannot even be sure that he doesn’t care, he is alienated from himself.

Lou is also alienated from society. It is easy to see this in the fourth verse. Lou does not care about all the hustlers and con-men, negative people, politicians, or people dying in war. Jim-Jim is a term used for hustlers or conmen, Lou just does not care to deal with those lowlifes. Nor does he want to pay attention to politicians making speeches. He doesn’t want to know about all the people putting each other down. He also does not care about “all the dead bodies piled up in
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mounds” where he is alluding to the Vietnam War. I believe all of this may actually be the reason that our dear friend Lou Reed continues to use heroin. He uses heroin to forget the world and in a way temporarily escape these troubles and headaches that society brings forward. This is partially confirmed because right after that he states “’Cause when the smack begins to flow / Then I really don’t care anymore”. When you look at it this way Lou is directly appealing to your emotions, everyone wants to escape from the worries of the world, he just picked a self destructive way to do it. In a way the evils of the city caused him to continue using heroin.

Lou Reed successfully uses ethos and pathos throughout the song to show what is is like to experience heroin and how it alienates him while at the same time filling some holes in his life and giving him a form of escape from the evils of the world. Lou is alienated from his life, he does not care if he dies because of his addiction to heroin and he wishes he was born a thousand years ago. He is alienated from himself, he just doesn’t know what he wants, he just can’t keep his thoughts straight to figure it out. Lastly he is alienated from society, he has no care for anything or anyone other than heroin. Does Mr. Reed want to change his life? Can he find a reason to keep living? How the song begins and ends, Lou just doesn’t know.