Lyrics to
New York Telephone Conversation

This version of New York Telephone Conversation was released by Lou Reed in 1972.

Our Decade Lyrics Lou Reed profile has all of the New York Telephone Conversation lyrics from 1972 and many more songs from the Lou Reed discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Lou Reed or about the 1970s in general.

I was sleeping, gently napping
when I heard the phone
Who is on the other end talking
am I even home

Did you see what she did to him
did you hear what they said
Just a New York conversation
rattling in my head

Oh, oh, my, and what shall we wear
Oh, oh, my, and who really cares

Just a New York conversation
gossip all of the time
Did you hear who did what to whom
happens all the time

Who has touched and who has dabbled
here in the city of shows
Openings, closings, bad repartee
everybody knows

Oh, how sad and why do we call
Oh, I’m glad to hear from you all

I am calling, yes I am calling
just to speak to you
For I know this night will kill me
if I can’t be with you

If I can’t be with you

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Lou Reed has released many songs over the years besides New York Telephone Conversation. Lou Reed released songs from 1972 to 2000 spanning across albums like Transformer, Lou Reed, Berlin, Sally Can't Dance, Rock 'n' Roll Animal, Coney Island Baby, Rock And Roll Heart, Street Hassle, The Bells, Growing Up In Public, The Blue Mask, Legendary Hearts, New Sensations, Mistrial, New York, Magic And Loss, Set The Twilight Reeling, and Ecstasy. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Lou Reed.

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About Lyrics and New York Telephone Conversation by Lou Reed

The lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Lou Reed in 1972. Elements of the lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Lou Reed and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for New York Telephone Conversation back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation by Lou Reed in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation" means the words set to the music of New York Telephone Conversation, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Lou Reed. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to New York Telephone Conversation and the lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Lou Reed who came here looking just for the lyrics to New York Telephone Conversation, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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