Power and Glory Part II - Magic - Transformation - Lou Reed

I was visited by the power and the glory

I was visited by a majestic hymn

Great bolts of lightning

Lightning up the sky

Electricity flowing through my veins

I was captured by a larger moment

I was seized by divinity's hot breath

Gorged like a lion on experience

Powerful from life

I wanted all of it -

Not some of it

I saw a man turn into a bird

I saw a bird turn into a tiger

I saw a man hang from a cliff by the tips of his toes

In the jungles of the amazon

I saw a man put a red hot needle through his eye

Turn into a crow and fly through the trees

Swallows hot coals and breathe out flames

And i wanted this to happen to me ...

I wanted all of it -

Not some of it

We saw the moon vanish into his pocket

We saw the stars disappear from sight

We saw him walk across water into the sun

While bathed in eternal light

We spewed out questions waiting for answers

Creating legends, religions and myths

Books, stories, movies and plays

All trying to explain this

I wanted all of it -

Not some of it

I saw a great man turn into a little child

The cancer reduced him to dust

His voice growing weak as he fought for his life

With a bravery few men know

I saw isotopes introduced into his lungs

Trying to stop the cancerous spread

And it made me think of leda and the swan

And gold being made from lead

The same power that burned hiroshima

Causing three legged babies and death

Shrunk to the size of a nickel

To help him regain his breath

And i was struck by the power and the glory

I was visited by a majestic him

Great bolts of lightning shooting up his veins

As the radiation flowed through him

He wanted all of it

Not (just) some of it