“Street Hassle” was recorded at the old Record Plant. I was there, Patti Smith was there, Bruce Springsteen was there. Everyone was in a different studio. I knew Steve Van Zandt and we asked Steve, would Bruce do this monologue? And Bruce said sure, and that was that… but don’t use my name. I wish all of Bruce’s fans would have gone out and bought it, but since we couldn’t use his name, they think it’s me imitating him.

“Street Hassle” is divided into three movements and had different characters talking whereas in “Walk on the Wild Side” [to which the song has been compared], it’s a take on four or five different people, vignettes reduced to four or eight lines. Here you have a lot of words. The very end speech the character gives in “Street Hassle” is like a Tennessee Williams monologue. [Lou Reed]