Ludlow St.

Album: Phrazes For The Young (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from The Strokes' frontman Julian Casablancas' debut album, Phrazes For The Young.
  • This drinking song is named after The Velvet Underground's Lower East Side hangout. Casablancas explained to Q magazine October 2009: "That song is a time travel through one New York street. It was also the first song I demoed. I recorded it to see if I was completely insane or whether I could make pleasurable music for anyone else. The song came out with an old-time saloon vibe and weird Caribbean drums and I thought, Oh I can do this."
  • The track contains the lyric: "Everything seems to go wrong when I stop drinkin'/ Everything seemed to go my way last night." Casablancas told The Observer October 4, 2009 that he doesn't drink at all now, but there was a time when he was physically sick if he didn't drink. Now, he says: "I'm happy. I'm like a happy person. Everything feels like it's on the right track, where in the past it felt like a random track… I kind of lost control."
  • The album title is a nod to Oscar Wilde's article Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young, which was first published in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon in December 1894.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the Song

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.

Dave Mason

Dave MasonSongwriter Interviews

Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.