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Of all the musicians who’ve died in my adult or adolescent life, he’s probably second only to George Harrison in terms of the influence he’s had on what I listen to.
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yeah I’m sad, but lou reed is eternal
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I always feel conflicted about these sorts of things. The VU is certainly my favorite band of all time, easily. However, he hasn’t really done any music that has been interesting (to me, at least) since “Street Hassle”. Maybe that’s a cold and utilitarian view of the lives of artists, but that’s how I feel.
I am amused by many of the interviews people have been posting, though. This one is great:
I also like hearing about how people first heard Lou or the VU. The Cowboy Junkies version of “Sweet Jane” seems to be a popular entry point, and I think that was probably the first thing I heard (on the Christian Slater pirate radio movie with the terrible title) but I didn’t actually hear much beyond “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Satellite of Love” on classic rock radio until my freshman year of college when I started playing the hell out of the first VU record (a practice that continues to the present day).
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no lie, old man lou reed helped me through some shitty times in my late 20s and for that I am forever grateful. Stuff like the bells, songs for drella, blue mask, ecstasy, this stuff kills me.
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Songs For Drella was my favourite non-VU album.
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I’m not a Lou Reed completist or anything, but I was really saddened to hear this. I’m pretty sure Ecstasy (along with Transformer) was my introduction to the guy, so I also have a soft spot for this album and in particular for the incredibly earwormy “Baton Rouge”:
which will almost single-handedly justify my day trip there next week, along with Ignatius Reilly’s description of the city as the “vortex of despair”. -
yeah the first time I heard that album, I stopped when I got to that track and listened to it like 4 times in a row
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I really like some of the songs on Ecstasy, others not so much. I think it came out not long after I got into Lou’s solo stuff and was the third one I bought after Transformer and Berlin. I saw him when he toured for Ecstasy and he was great, but his set was 40 minutes shorter than he’d been playing around the rest of the country. The nearest Berlin show to me sold out before I even heard about it, but I did see a cinema screening of the one they made a film of.
The last time I did a (very arbitrary) favourite albums list, the first two VU albums were at 53 and 41 respectively and Berlin was at 28.
I bought Magic & Loss only just over a week before Lou’s death and only got around to listening to it on the day itself. A lot of it is about his friend who died of cancer and there are lines that sound applicable to Lou and really haunting.
So many things to do - it’s too early
For my life to be ending
For this body to simply rot away
I want some magic to keep me alive
I want a miracle … I don’t want to die
I’m afraid that if I go to sleep I’ll never wake
I’ll no longer exist
I’ll close my eyes and disappear
and float into the mist
