Venus in Furs
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there

I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears

Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now bleed for me

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

The Velvet Underground

This was the first song I ever heard by the Velvet Underground, and I was immediately hooked by the sound. In fact it's not so much a song as an 'atmosphere'. It was as if I'd always known this kind of music existed somewhere, but I'd never heard it. Even now, many years later, I don't know of a better, more consistently brilliant band. The lyrics to 'Venus in Furs' were written when Lou Reed was in his teens I think, and maybe that shows in places, but the arrangement, the playing and the vocal delivery are all absolutely perfect. This is why it's so hard to do covers of VU songs, because the versions they recorded are definitive.