Lou Reed — Smalltown Animal Serenade

When you're growing up in a small town When you're growing up in a small town When you're growing up in a small town You say, "No one famous ever came from here" When you're growing up in a small town And you're having a nervous breakdown And you think that you'll never escape it Yourself or the place that you live Where did Picasso come from? There's no Michelangelo coming from Pittsburgh If art is the tip of the iceberg I'm the part sinking below When you're growing up in a small town Bad skin, bad eyes, gay and fatty People look at you funny When you're in a small town My father worked in construction It's not something for which I am suited Oh, what is something for which you are suited? Getting out of here I hate being odd in a small town If they stare, let them stare in New York City As this pink-eyed painting albino How far can my fantasy go? I'm no Dali coming from Pittsburgh No adorable lisping Capote, my hero Oh, do you think I could meet him? I'd camp out at his front door There's only one good thing about a small town There's only one good use for a small town There's only one good thing about a small town You know that you want to get out When you're growing up in a small town You know that you'll grow down in a small town There's only one good use for a small town You hate it - and you know you'll have to leave