Street Hassle (song)

"Street Hassle" is a song recorded by Lou Reed for his 1978 album of the same name. It is 10 minutes and 56 seconds long and divided into three distinct sections: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway." Part one, "Waltzing Matilda," describes a woman picking up and paying a male prostitute. In Part Two, "Street Hassle," a drug dealer speaks at length about the death of a woman (ostensibly "Waltzing Matilda") in his apartment to her companion (presumably the male prostitute from Part One). Part Three, "Slipaway," contains a brief, uncredited, spoken word section by Bruce Springsteen (from 9:02 to 9:39) and a dirge sung by Reed about love and death. It was recorded in E major.

On the live album Animal Serenade, Reed says: "I wanted to write a song that had a great monologue set to rock. Something that could have been written by William Burroughs, Hubert Selby, John Rechy, Tennessee Williams, Nelson Algren, maybe a little Raymond Chandler. You mix it all up and you have 'Street Hassle'."

"Street Hassle" was included in 2008's The Pitchfork Media 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present.

The song is featured during the last scene of the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale. Rock band Simple Minds covered the song in an abbreviated version on their 1984 album Sparkle in the Rain, using two verses (the first and third) from the "Waltzing Matilda" section and a verse from the "Slipaway" section. Drone rock band Spacemen 3 perform "Ode to Street Hassle" which employs similar music.