Good Evening, Mr. Waldheim

I just came across this Lou Reed song, from a Facebook discussion on songs about UN Secretary Generals on Facebook. It features Kurt Waldheim, the Pope (probably John Paul II), Jesse Jackson and the PLO, and Louis Farrakhan, and the underlying theme is antisemitism from the right (Waldheim) and left (Jackson). It's from his New York album, released in January, 1989.

Jackson had made a speech on "common ground" at the Democratic convention the previous summer, which Reed is reacting to in part in the song.

Anthony DeCurtis, the Rolling Stone review, writes, "Reed chides Jackson with the question 'Jesse you say Common Ground/Does that include the PLO?”' He goes on to ask, hammering a rhyme worthy of a rapper, 'If I ran for President and once was a member of the Klan/Wouldn’t you call me on it/The way I call you on Farrakhan?' The song doesn’t end hopefully; in the last lines, Reed snaps, 'Oh is it true/There’s no Ground Common enough for me and you?'”

Good evening Mr.Waldheim
and Pontiff how are you?
You have so much in common
in the things you do

And here comes Jesse Jackson
he talks of Common Ground
does that Common Ground include me
or is it just a sound

A sound that shakes
oh Jesse, you must watch the sounds you make

A sound that quakes
there are fears that still reverberate

Jesse you say Common Ground
does that include the PLO?
what about people right here right now
who fought for you not so long ago?

The words that flow so freely
falling dancing from your lips
I hope that you don't cheapen them
with a racist slip

Oh Common Ground
is Common Ground a word or just a sound
Common Ground
remember those civil rights workers buried in the ground

If I ran for President
and once was a member of the Klan
wouldn't you call me on it
the way I call you on Farrakhan

And Pontiff, pretty Pontiff
can anyone shake your hand ?
or is it just that you like uniforms
and someone kissing your hand

Or is it true
the Common Ground for me includes you too

Oh, oh, is it true
the Common Ground for me includes you too

Good evening Mr.Waldheim
pontiff how are you
as you both stroll through the woods at night
I'm thinking thoughts of you

And Jesse you're inside my thoughts
as the rhythmic words subside
my Common Ground invites you in
or do you prefer to wait outside

Or is it true
the Common Ground for me is without you

Or is it true
the Common Ground for me is without you

Oh is it true
there's no Ground Common enough for me and you