What does the song take a walk on the wild side mean?

Answer 1

"The wild side" is a phrase that means something out of society's norms, or something considered risqué or taboo. The song is about people doing things that others probably wouldn't, like changing genders and being a prostitute.

Answer 2

This song, which was a top-20 hit for Lou Reed in 1972, is about a group of unconventional people-- some of whom were transsexuals, prostitutes, or drug addicts, and all of whom gravitated to New York to be part of the artistic and performance scene there; everyone mentioned in the song-- Holly, Candy, Jackie, etc-- were real people who hung around the studio of pop art legend Andy Warhol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To "take a walk on the wild side" refers to doing something dangerous, something society would consider deviant behavior. (As a personal aside, I was in radio when this song came out, and it was still a fairly conservative era; yet despite lyrics which mentioned the use of meth, performing oral sex, changing genders, and other activities not generally discussed on top-40 radio, the song got a lot of airplay.)