One of the things that stood her apart was that while most of us were into Bowie, T Rex and The Sweet Tracey would expound on Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. The Bowie connection had of course led me to Walk on the Wild Side and Transformer but apart from that at that time I did not really connect with Reed.
That came a bit (lot) later. Over the years I had accumulated a few albums including a great double career summary called Rock'n'roll Diary. However the first album of his I went out and bought when it was released was New York, released in 1988. I think I bought it because at the time it was hailed as a return to form.
It was one of the first CDs I bought as well and it boasted that with the right type of CD Player and a computer connection you also had access to the lyrics. I did not have the right player so that did not matter.
The album opens with a great three punch from Romeo Had Juliette, Halloween Parade, and Dirty Boulevard. Mike Rathke's jagged guitar complements Reeds own rhthym work and Rob Wasserman is one of the most under-rated bass players around. All this is underpinned with producer Fred Maher's economic drumming. Right from here you know that Reed has perhaps the best band he ever played with (apart from Metallica (joke!) that is).
Not only that his lyrical focus is keen in his warts and all homage to his hometown.
Is there an opening line to an album that sets the agenda for the rest of the album better than
"Caught between the twisted stars, the plotted lines, the faulty map that brought Columbus to New York, Betwixt between the east and west he calls on her wearing a leather vest"
On Dirty Boulevard he lays the American Dream bare with a few short versus;
Pedro lives out of the Wilshire Hotel
he looks out a window without glass
The walls are made of cardboard, newspapers on his feet
his father beats him 'cause he's too tired to beg
He's got 9 brothers and sisters
they're brought up on their knees
it's hard to run when a coat hanger beats you on the thighs
Pedro dreams of being older and killing the old man
but that's a slim chance he's going to the boulevard
He's going to end up, on the dirty boulevard
he's going out, to the dirty boulevard
He's going down, to the dirty boulevard
This room cost 2,000 dollars a month
you can believe it man it's true
somewhere a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants
No one here dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or anything
they dream of dealing on the dirty boulevard
Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I'll piss on 'em
that's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, let's club 'em to death
and get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard
Other standout tracks to me include Strawman with its attack on consumerism, politicians and television evangelists. "Spittin' in the wind comes back twice as hard"
One track that resonated with me at the time and still does is Beginning of a Great Adventure. I was just starting my time as a parent and at the time his wife seemed to be encouraging him to start a family. Lou was a troubled man and who had had a strained relationship with his own parents. This song / poem questions his motivations for having a child. It seems brutally honest with his reservations apparently winning out in the end as he had no children.
"It might be fun to have a kid that I could kick around
create in my own image like a god
I'd raise my own pallbearers to carry me to my grave
and keep me company when I'm a wizened toothless clod
Some gibbering old fool sitting all alone drooling on his shirt
some senile old fart playing in the dirt
It might be fun to have a kid I could pass something on to
something better than rage, pain, anger and hurt
I hope it's true what my wife said to me
I hope it's true what my wife said to me
I hope it's true what my wife said to me
She says, "Lou, it's the beginning of a great adventure"
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