Lou Reed with Metallica in 2011.
Lou Reed died yesterday. He was 71. I won’t sit here and tell you I was a superfan, but I know enough to say he was a rock-and-roll poet. Scrolling through my iPod, I found 2 songs that will show you that. I hadn’t listened to them in years.
“The first Velvet Underground album may have only sold 1,000 copies, but every person who bought it started a band.” – Brian Eno
“Perfect Day,” 1972. An ironic ode to drugs or sincere reminiscence of time with a loved one? Either way, this song, revived on the soundtrack of 1996’s “Trainspotting,” is classic, melancholy Reed.
“Turn To Me,” is a meditation on friendship, aging, and mortality that ranks as one of his best ever achievements. Having survived, however surprisingly, the excesses of the 1970s, Lou thoughtfully addresses an acquaintance who is also facing the ugly crucible of having a friend die “of something you can’t pronounce.” He comforts both the fallen and the aggrieved, acknowledging the randomness, irony, and melancholy of our respective destinies. If this is Lou as rabbi, then rest assured you will never have a cooler one at your behest.
Related articles
- Lou Reed (coffeecoateddestruction.wordpress.com)
- David Bowie leads Lou Reed tributes (bbc.co.uk)
- Lou Reed dies aged 71 (telegraph.co.uk)
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