METALLICA And LOU REED: 'Cheat On Me' Lyrics Revealed

October 11, 2011

The musical collaboration between Lou Reed and METALLICA, "Lulu", will be released on November 1 in North America via Warner Bros. Records and one day earlier (October 31) in the rest of the world through Universal Music. The CD was co-produced by Reed, METALLICA, Hal Willner who has produced albums for Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Laurie Anderson, among others and Greg Fidelman. Fidelman also mixed the record.

"Lulu" final track listing:

01. Brandenburg Gate (4:19)
02. The View (5:17)
03. Pumping Blood (7:24)
04. Mistress Dread (6:52)
05. Iced Honey (4:36)
06. Cheat On Me (11:26)
07. Frustration (8:33)
08. Little Dog (8:01)
09. Dragon (11:08)
10. Junior Dad (19:28)

"Cheat On Me" lyrics:

Why do you cheat on me
Why do I cheat on thee
Why do I cheat on me
Why do I cheat on me

I have a passionate heart
It can tear us apart
I have the loves of many men
But I dont love any of them

Why do I cheat on me

You have your feelings
I have mine
I spit upon you and change my mind
I have many hearts to break
And many, many, many more to take

Let the light of stars pour out
Like a candle in a spout
Let the wick recede and break
Let the starlight radiate
Why do you cheat on me
Why do I cheat on me
Why do I cheat on thee
Why do I desecrate me
Why do I piss my dreams
Thats because thats what it is

I have the drive
I got the scope
If I, if I, if I, could I give you a rope

Your love means zero to me
Im a passionateless wave upon the sea
Passionateless wave upon the sea
Why, why, why
Do you cheat on me
Why, why, why
Do I cheat on thee
Oh why, do I cheat on me
Why do I cheat on myself
Well I got nobody else

Im only young once
I want to taste it all and have fun
I have no real feelings in my soul
Where most have passion I got a hole
I really got nobody else

I want lovers like the rain
So many of them, so much the same
You say you love me, I know its true
But I, I, I dont love you

Why do I cheat on me
Why do you cheat on me
Your love means zero to me
A passionateless wave
Your love means zero to me [End of lyrics]

The idea for these two giants of modern music to work together was born after the 25th anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame concerts in New York City in October 2009. METALLICA singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo played with Reed on VELVET UNDERGROUND classics "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat". "We knew from then that we were made for each other," Reed says.

After that triumphant performance, Reed suggested they all make a record together. At first they planned to record an album of Reedfraven's older material, what Ulrich describes as "some of Lou's lost jewels songs that he felt he'd like to give a second spin, and we could do whatever it is we do to some of those songs." That idea "hung in the air for a couple of months." Then, a week or two before that session was to begin, "Lou called up and said, 'Listen, I have this other idea.'"

That idea was to record a series of songs Reed had written for American avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson and German theater group the Berliner Ensemble's production of the "Lulu Plays", which premiered in April at the Theatre am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, founded by Bertolt Brecht. The songs are inspired by German expressionist Frank Wedekind's early 20th century plays "Earth Spirit" and "Pandora's Box", and were a rewrite of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", which emerged as a graphic novel on Fantagraphics Press.

"We were very interested in working with Lou," says Hetfield. "I had these giant question marks: What's it going to be like? What's going to happen? So it was great when he sent us the lyrics for the 'Lulu' body of work. It was something we could sink our teeth into. I could take off my singer and lyricist hat and concentrate on the music part. These were very potent lyrics, with a soundscape behind them for atmosphere. Lars and I sat there with an acoustic and let this blank canvas take us where it needed to go. It was a great gift, to be asked to stamp 'TALLICA on it. And that's what we did."

"We had to bring 'Lulu' to life in a sophisticated way, using rock," Reed says. "And the hardest power rock you could come up with would have to be METALLICA. They live on that planet. We played together, and I knew it: dream come true. This is the best thing I ever did. And I did it with the best group I could possibly find. By definition, everybody involved was honest. This has come into the world pure. We pushed as far as we possibly could within the realms of reality."

"It's definitely not a METALLICA album, or a Lou Reed album," adds Hammett. "It's something else. It's a new animal, a hybrid."

A variety of physical "Lulu" releases are available for pre-order at LouReedMetallica.com:

** 2CD Package - $19.99

Contents: Double CD with 24-page booklet including all lyrics.

** Deluxe 2CD Poster Set - $119.99

Contents: Limited-run tube including a poster of the "Lulu" mannequin and song lyrics, three high-quality prints of Anton Corbijn photos of Lou Reed and METALLICA, and the double CD of "Lulu" in a unique folding slipcase. Each tube is numbered. Dimensions of the tube are approximately 5.5 inches in diameter by 49 inches long.

** Deluxe Book 2CD - $109.99

Contents: Limited-run two-book set, each book 12" x 12" square bound with a hard cover. The Anton Corbijn book is 20 pages of photos taken of Lou Reed and METALLICA in Gothenburg, Sweden in the summer of 2011. The lyric book is 28 pages with lyrics from each song along with imagery from the objects collection of WerkbundarchiV Museum Der Dinge, Berlin, Germany. The two "Lulu" CDs are also included in the lyric book. All housed in a clear plastic slipcase.

** Vinyl 2LP Set

2CD Package

Deluxe 2CD Poster Set

Deluxe Book 2CD

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