Lou Reed - The Fall Of The House Of Usher Lyrics
[Edgar:]And then I had a vision[Roderick Usher:]Ah EdgarAh Edgar, my dear friend Edgar[Edgar:]It's been a long time, RoderickI've ridden many milesIt's been a dull and soundless day for autumnThe leaves have lost their autumn glowand the clouds seem oppressive with their drifting finery[Roderick Usher:]I know, my friendThough I own so much of this land I findthe country insufferableI deal only in half pleasures[Edgar:]Speaking of half pleasureswould you care for a tincture of opium?[Roderick Usher:]Nothing would please me more than to smokewith an old friendI've experienced the hideous dropping of the veilthe bitter lapse into common lifeunredeemed dreariness of thoughtI have an iciness, a sickening of the heart[Edgar:]It's true you don't look well, Roderickbut I am your friendno matter the occasion or position of the starsI'm glad you wrote mebut I must admit to concern[Roderick Usher:]I cannot contain my heartEdgar, I look to you for solacefor relief from myselfWhat I have is constitutionala family evil, a nervous affection that must surely passBut I do have this morbid acuteness of sensesI can eat only the most insipid foodclothes only of the lightest textureThe odor of flowers I find oppressiveMy eyes cannot bear even the faintest light[Madeline Usher:][moaning][Roderick Usher:]Did you hear that?[Edgar:]I hearI am listening, go on[Roderick Usher:]I shall perishI will perish in this deplorable follyI dread the futureNot the events, the resultsThe most trivial eventcauses the greatest agitation of the soulI do not fear danger except in its absolute effect terrorI find I must inevitably abandon life and reason togetherin my struggles with the demon fearPerhaps you'll think me superstitiousbut the physique of this placeit hovers about me like a great bodysome diseased outer shellsome decaying finite skin encasing my morale[Edgar:]You mentioned your sister was ill[Roderick Usher:]My beloved sister, my sole companionhas had a long continuing illnesswhose inevitable conclusion seems forswornThis will leave me the last of the ancient race of Ushers[Madeline Usher:][moaning][Edgar:]She looks so much like you[Roderick Usher:]I love her in a nameless waymore than I love myselfHer demise will leave me hopelesslyconfined to memories and realities of a futureso barren as to be stultifying[Madeline Usher:][moaning][Edgar:]Oh, what of physicians?[Roderick Usher:]Ah, they are baffledUntil today she refused bed restwanting to be present in your honorbut finally she succumbed to the prostrating power of the destroyerYou will probably see her no more[Edgar:]Sound and music take us to the twin curves of experienceLike brother and sister intertwinedthey relieve themselves of bodily contactand dance in a pagan revelry[Roderick Usher:]I have soiled myself with my designsI am ashamed of my brainThe enemy is meand the executioner terrorMusic is a reflection of our inner selfunfiltered agony touches the wayward stringThe wayward brain confuses itselfwith the self-perceived futureand turns inward with loathing and terrorEither by design or thoughtwe are doomed to know our own endI've written a lyric[Edgar:]May I hear it?[Roderick Usher:]It is called "The Haunted Palace"In the greenest of our valleys,By good angels tenanted,Once a fair and stately palace --Snow-white palace -- reared its head.Banners yellow, glorious, golden,On its roof did float and flow;(This -- all this -- was in the olden time long ago)And every gentle air that dallied,Along the rampart plumed and pallid,A winged odor went away.All wanderers in that happy valleyThrough two luminous windows sawSpirits moving musicallyThe sovereign of the realm serene,A troop of echoes whose sweet dutyWas but to singIn voices of surpassing beauty,The wit and wisdom of their king.But evil things in robes of sorrow,Assailed the monarch's high estate!And round about his home the glory,Is but a dim-remembered story.Vast forms that move fantasticallyTo a discordant melody;While, like a ghastly river,A hideous throng rush out forever,And laugh -- but smile no more.Nevermore.[Edgar:]It's cold in here[Roderick Usher:]I tell you minerals are sentient thingsThe gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphereof their own about the waters and the walls proves thisThus the silent yet importunate and terrible influencewhich for centuries has molded my familyAnd now me[Madeline Usher:][screaming][Roderick Usher:]Excuse me[Madeline Usher:][vomiting][Roderick Usher:]She is goneOut, sad lightRoderick has no lifeI shall preserve her corpse for a fortnight[Edgar:]But Roderick..[Roderick Usher:]I shall place it in a vault facing the lakeI do not wish to answer to the medical mennor place her in the exposed burial plot of my familyWe shall inter her at the proper datewhen I am more fully of a right mindHer malady was unusualPlease do not question me on this[Edgar:]I cannot question you[Roderick Usher:]Then help me now[Madeline Usher:][moaning][Edgar:]One would think you twins[Roderick Usher:]We areWe have always been sympathetic to each otherHave you seen this?It is her[Edgar:]It is a whirlwindYou should notYou must not behold thisRoderick, these appearances which bewilder you are mere electrical phenomena not uncommonOr perhaps they have their rank origins in the marshy gases of the lakePlease, let's close this casement and I will read and you will listenAand together we will pass this terrible night togetherWhat's that?What is that?Don't you hear that?[Roderick Usher:]Not hear it?Yes, I hear it and have heard it many minutes have I heard it?Oh, pity me miserable wretchI dared notOh noI dared not speakWe have put her living in the tombI have heard feeble movements in the coffinI thought I heardI dared not speakOh GodI have heard footstepsDo you not hear them?AttentionDo I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart?MadmanMadmanI tell you she now stands without the door[Madeline Usher:][moaning and screaming]
