Lou Reed, dead.
Lou Reed was subversive. I first encountered his music while reading the school bus in junior high, which is a strange place to listen to the Velvet Underground, I tell you. There I was, bored out of my skull, trapped on those uncomfortable bench seats, on my way to a suburban public school that I detested, and the driver would just turn the radio to the local pop station and turn it up loud to keep us distracted. And so I’d sit there, listening intently to a guy singing about the wild side of New York, wondering if the administrators at school had ever listened to these lyrics, because they made me feel funny inside, and want to get out and go get a cheap Greyhound ticket and end up in a different kind of bus station in a big city on the other side of the continent.
And then, once we arrived at school, they always played some conservative anecdote by that colossal douche, Paul Harvey. My poor brain, whipsawed between Reed and Harvey. I knew which one spoke truth, at least. But still, I think I figured out quickly that no, the principal of the school never listened to the lyrics of the songs we liked. Reed. Cooper. Joplin. Zappa. If he did, that bus would have gone silent.
He’s one of those people who pounded at the conventionality we were supposed to be molded into. I have to thank all the people who have done that over the years.
Alex says
A nice personal eulogy
Lynna, OM says
You can’t go home with your hard-on, you can’t melt it down in the rain.
Lou Reed, alive in his music.
QueQuoi, traded in her jackboots for jillstilettos says
I’m listening to All Tomorrow’s Parties. Seemed fitting.
Goodbye, Lou.
Lynna, OM says
To clarify my comment #2, Leonard Cohen’s lyrics, Lou Reed’s sensibility.
Lynna, OM says
Walk on the Wild Side youtube tribute.
tuibguy says
Yeah, I am sad to see him gone; although I hadn’t listened to much of his recent work I really loved listening to the Velvet Underground’s “VU,” the remastered songs. Just listened to “Foggy Notion,” and am amazed again at what they were doing with guitars….
Lynna, OM says
Here’s the Rolling Stone coverage:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027
ChasCPeterson says
damn.
I’m gonna play New York real loud now.
timgueguen says
Marcia Wallace passed away yesterday. Not a good weekend for entertainers.
chakolate says
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for calling Paul Harvey a colossal douchebag. My father listened to him, er… religiously, and I always gritted my teeth and left the room. The worst thing was when he’d turn it on in the car: no escape!
ChasCPeterson says
join me, won’t you?
play it loud
anuran says
My father, a lifelong Liberal Democrat outside of voting for Goldwater in 1964, would play Paul Harvey sometimes. Remembering it makes me want wash my brain with a steel-bristled brush
AJ Milne says
Excellent choice, Chaz.
I started with What’s Good. Really seemed the thing.
But yeah, New York, end to end, loud, is gonna have to be the followup, now.
Al Dente says
I’ve just listened to “New York”. I had forgotten how good an album it is.
Rey Fox says
Have had “Transformer” sitting on my hard drive for weeks now. Ought to give it a listen.
UnknownEric the Apostate says
I’ve never been a fan of funerals, so I’ve always told my parents/wife that when I die, I just want a simple little thing to let them grieve and I want them to play “Goodnight Ladies” from Transformer. I’m going to go listen to that right now.
erikschepers says
“And they say the midwest is in great distress and NASA blew up the moon”
That line has always struck a chord for me. R.I.P. mr. Reed.
Olav says
Seems like PZ’s bus driver was quite the subversive himself, to have such an influence on his passengers.
And yes, Sweet Jane from Rock & Roll Animal is the best. The whole album is great, some fantastic musicians appear in it.
left0ver1under says
If you have many meetings, you have many partings, such is the price of involvement in life. The other choice is isolation, which is worse.
colrog says
Hear, hear!
nich says
Lou Reed AND Ms. Krabappel? 71 is the new 27!
sempercogitans says
Oh, look.
randay says
On that Greyhound, did you want to pluck your eyebrows and shave your legs?
Don’t forget Reed’s original cohort, John Cale. Their combination of talents made Velvet sound.