Lou Reed was the first "rockstar death" that actually shook me, like, "Damn, my heroes are going away", I spent more than a year just remembering it out of nowhere "oh my, Lou Reed is dead", and getting sad until i got used to it. When Bowie died, i guess i was kind of used to that feeling already
He was mine as well. At the time I was a huge Velvets fan and almost all of his solo albums. Still do but at the time it was an obsession. The day sucked.
Growing up in small-town Oklahoma, The Velvets were the first band that I made my own as a teenager... A band that nobody else in my shitty town knew about. I devoured "The Velvet Underground and Nico" because it was the only Velvets record that the local shop could get, and I only bought it because I recognized the Warhol art on the cover and had to have it. So in 1997 I was suddenly hearing the Alpha... The Genesis source of so much other music that I could hear in so many other later bands. I wore that album out while everyone else listened to Korn and Deftones and Kid Rock. For years I determined new acquaintances coolness by whether or not they knew the Velvets. Then I moved away to college, got an internet connection, and discovered Television's Marquee Moon, which I consider is a direct descendant of the classis Velvet lineup. When I read that Lou had died, I realized that I had never even tried to catch him in concert, as I have my other musical heroes... I wasn't sad really... I was just thankful for the first album and the weird circumstances that produced it, and for the secret power it gave my confidence in the professional embarrassment dojo known as high school. It helped me figure out what creativity really was. Yes Loy's candle burned down to nothing, but we still have the Black Angels Death Song, Lisa Says, Heroin, Waiting for the Man, and all the other seminal pop-art masterpieces tgat Lou gufted to us.
So many tragic figures in Warhol's factory, Nico and Edie, and that's what attracts us to them, we can vicariously live through them without the tragedy of being them.
Tritty Bowie, Iggy, and Reed (among with Kraftwerk and New Order) don’t get the recognition they deserve as far as their influence on music as a whole goes. Most people know they’re great artists but all 5 of them drastically changed and innovated the music scenes they were in, and I don’t see they get mentioned as much.
Nah this is crazy. I heard this song fully for the first time a mere what 5 hours ago? And I was like wow that’s a really amazing song and then polyphonic comes out with this video it’s gotta be fate 😂
It would be great to hear your thoughts on Nick Drake or Elliott Smith. They were both very gifted with melodies, but also had some wonderfully insightful lyrics as well!
'Rock n' Roll' has and always will be my favourite song. I identify so strongly with the 'Ginny' character, and the way Reed describes these realistic and flawed characters in so many of his songs (like 'hanging round' one of the best) is just unmatched. Thank you for this video!!
Right on, sister. I feel the very same way re: Ginny. I honestly don't believe I would have made it as far as I have without the life affirming power of Rock and Roll. I would've given up on life years ago. Thanks Lou. RIP
Yeah... Lou Reed, grew an changed throughout his life. The person who talks in the video acts as if his life started and ended with, Perfect Day. I think his last album LuLu, was a masterpiece.
alex summers he didn’t do surface-level research. He just gave one example and expanded the ideology towards that one song. If you want a documentary then this isn’t the video for you.
@@aimingalex I would argue that, for a 10 minute RU-vid video, focusing on one single song in depth yields FAR greater sophistication and insight than a shallow deep dive on his entire life's discography
I saw him in a music store signing records. It was around 2000, "Ecstasy" had just been released. Just five minutes prior to my Reed-sighting, I sold a fairly old pressing of a Velvets record so I could get money. That was a Lou Reed day alright.
Hello, I've just saw your video. And I've just read the biography of Lou Reed written by DeCurtis. And I cannot be more agree with you. We, the Reed's fans, have to talk about this complicated legacy. When I've just finished the DeCurtis book, I was devasted. He didn't talk about things that I've not know before. Lou Reed was a brilliant poet and a brilliant rock and roll animal. But he was a monster too. With his first wife, with Rachel. Abusive with oh so many friends of him. But he was one of my favorite artists of all time. How can I cope with all that (specially with a cancelled culture upon us)? And that's why I thank you for your video. Yes, we have to talk. We all have some dear uncle or cousin that was abusive or a really bad person. We have to stop loving her or him? We have to bury her or him under a rug? I don't think so. We have to talk about it. Again, thanks a lot.
Related to this: I listened to a podd were two people (the host and the guest) talked about Cornelis Vreeswijk. A brilliant poet and songwriter who wrote many beautiful and many witty "visor" (Swedish folk-songs, though the man was from the Netherlands originally, he lived and worked in Sweden and wrote his songs in Swedish). But the man was also an alcoholic, a male chauvinistic pig at times, and homophobic. They asked each other in the end who you can reconcile that with the art. And I love their conclusion: First of all, we need to accept that our heroes are humans and humans are flawed. Part of growing up is realising your parents aren't perfect gods nor (as some think during their teenage years) evil tyrants, but humans and not everything they taught you was right. Does that mean throwing everything they said out? No. You keep the good stuff. Same thing with artists you like. Because enjoying or endorsing someones good stuff doesn't mean you endorse or like the bad stuff they've done. I think it's odd that we think this way. After all, no sane person would think that just because you're a fan of say, Martin Scorsese, you consider every film he's ever made a masterpiece. Neither would being a fan of Lou Reed make you think that everything he did was right. Especially not his abusive side. Speaking of Cornelis, his work was very much on the side of the down-and-out, he was a cynic (one of his more famous choruses are that "it might get better but it won't get good") who nonetheless loved the beautiful in the world and wanted to celebrate it. His chauvinistic and homophobic side very seldom came out in his work, especially not his best stuff. And that's the stuff about him that's still being played and celebrated. Also important to remember (and this is me slightly paraphrasing an internet-friend of mine who said it first, I just added the Lou Reed part): Lou, and every other "bad" person, from creeps, to miscreants, on up to criminals or even predators, are all themselves victims. Victims of genetics, of environment, of upbringing, of circumstance, of their brains, of bio/neuro-chemistry, and so forth. Only by recognising the humanity in those we look down on or dislike or even hate can we address the root causes and try to fix/mitigate them. Hate and disdain are easy. Understanding is more difficult, but it yields better results. It doesn't make what they've done "okay". But to condemn and moralise is never interesting because it doesn't bring about understanding. Like previously stated, we need to talk about it. And we should talk about it, especially in order to understand it so we can prevent it from happening again.
@@theyakkoman Thank you for that thoughtful post. I think that cancel culture is an error, a toxic error. I think it will go away when people start to wise up. I hope that's soon.
I think you're right - "cancel culture" has become a toxic thing, lacking in nuance or ability for redemption.people have - I would like to think - good intentions in highlighting abuse and bigotry, but it's really just another toxic by-product of social media; a corporate megalith of which humans are the product, and sensationalism and intrigue drive engagement. we really just need people to better understand the consequences of world social media usage, and the way we interact with it. people are complicated, nobody is perfect, and the idea that an artist's creative output can be written off because they have personality flaws is a pretty misguided one. I've known hundreds of artists, and most of the really talented ones have struggles and shortcomings which shouldn't necessarily undermine the things they create. i think it's overly simplistic to expect artists to be perfect people.
Rachel was NOT Reed's first wife. Rachel was Reed's live transvestite boyfriend for a while in the mid 1970's. And stop calling him a *monster*. That's an incredibly offensive term reserved for the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
Other than “heroin” , street hassle is the song I can relate to the most as an addict making yet another attempt at recovery, the way he portrays the melancholy of city life and this wanting to slip away is beautiful and Ironically is one of the reasons I go back to fentanyl so often
Great video on why it is so complicated to talk about art and artists; some great art can come from people who do reprehensible things. But love really is rewarding when you can understand, give people a chance to heal and atone, and become someone good.
Wow what a great video! That line "Just perfect day, you made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good" has always resonated with me. At the time it reflected the way I felt not good enough for the girl I had split up with but as I got older I realised it was about someone not good in their own right trying to escape for a precious few moments. Very moving.
Seriously like don’t get me wrong it was a good video but he totally left out how he got cleaned in the 80s and I’m all for addressing the abuse but let’s be real if you’re gonna go after Lou than why not John Lennon or all the underage girls bands like Led Zepplin slept with
@@ceejay1794 There's a lot of pain in life. A lot of people assholes in their youth, grow out of their assholeness. In the muy macho culture of the 60s and 70s in particular, it would be all the more challenging for a young man thrust into the raunchy, hedonistic and chauvenistic world of rock and roll and avoid being a first class jerk at all. It's hard for people who live average lives to be perfect all the time, too.
@@conormanning8621 Did you even watch the video? He is in NO WAY "going after" Lou Reed. If anything the tone of this video shows he is clearly one of Lou's biggest fans-you have to really love something in order to be able to look at it critically in such a complex and in depth way as this. This is a conversation that a lot of music consumers will refuse to have about their favorite musicians, because it makes them uncomfortable, but it NEEDS to be had, regardless of whether Lou reformed later in his life or not.
10 September 1983 live in Rome at the Circo Massimo. I was 15, with three friends, my first concert ever. Incidents with the police, tear gas that arrived on the stage, and after the concert the four of us stuck inside a Metro Station that had been closed immediately after the last train arrived. Unforgettable night !! Saw him again in Milan maybe 20 years after that, an intimate show in a theatre. Lou Reed touched human nature in its raw essence.
There are two stories here : Lou's relation to society, and his personal life. Regarding his personal life, allegations have been made of mistreatments that have to be taken seriously (by Bettye and in DeCurtis' book), but statements from other relatives at the time also came to defend Reed. So I guess this a complicated story of its own. But it could be misleading to keep this complexity on a personal level, through Lou's fight with addiction, mental illness, fame or sexual identity. This darkness is very much linked to his bleak perception of society, norms and social deviance, which is why he was such an important figure for punk (Iggy's nemesis in some way). His message is disturbing, but it's not (or not merely) because he was disturbed. Many troubles he described was those he witnessed in society. What seems even more interesting is that he didn't coin his critiques in a "moral" way, like say Dylan. He seemed closer to the very dark, almost relativist stance of a Burroughs. That adds to the disturbance of his message.
This was a sensitive and honest discussion of a great song and musician that was beautiful and ugly all at once. Thank you for bringing his life into communication with his music.
This was beautiful. This song has always struck a chord somewhere very deep. Loved your analysis of it and the repetition of simple understated images, like the song itself. Appreciate your work and the time you put into it 😘
This song always gets me like the first time I listened to it. It's like Lou poured his whole soul in it, his life and suffering, all through the music.
Thank you for this one! I love a lot of Lou Reeds music and after reading his biographies and finding out what a terrible person he could be even if it was brought on by addiction and mental illness and I had to stop listening to his work. And unlike a lot if other artist whose work I can set aside because I can’t forget their behaviour Lou Reed I really missed. Your idea of learning from his work for what he was striving for instead of what he was is a new way to look at it. I’m also just really glad you weren’t just celebrating his music without addressing how terrible he was
also i see so many comments abour how wrong this video is about his life, how he was not a monster, and how heroin wasn't his drug of choice. but art rarely has anything to do with facts. once you start being more concerned with facts you're not appreciating art, you're just relaying facts. the stories an artist puts out there about oneself, whether intentional or not, is larger than the artist's actual life experiences. you can say perfect day is a song about reed's fantasy about going on a mass killing spree and no one can say you're wrong. even reed himself didn't know what he was singing about all the time. electricity comes from other planets and its reach goes beyond even that. it doesnt belong to any one specific individual. it's communal.
lou reed is my favorite writer/musician too. but never, not even once i've looked the other way to how much of an asshole he was. i think it is important to separate those things, to understand how human people can be and accept it.
Lou Reed is in my top 10 favorite artists, as is/was Ryan Adams. Regardless of one's opinion of his music, he left a huge body of work and his being an ass made him, and his music pretty much disappear. Don't know where I stand on him. Lou will live forever.
William Michonski You don’t know where you stand on Ryan Adams? If so, I’m glad I’m not the only one. Heartbreaker and Gold are 2 of my all time favorite records but holy fuck he was/is a shitty person.
He’s not my absolute favorite but he’s definitely one of them. The Velvet Underground changed my life and outlook on music as a whole. His solo career is really underrated too. That said, he certainly wasn’t a great person.
Watching his interviews later in life show him as a gentle, kind, loving person. His past behavior is certainly not excused, but I think he eventually found his way back to who he was before he turned into a monster.
People like you which is the majority of the population cannot be trusted or ever loved. Technology is a time machine and yall constantly go back to a individuals past and use it against him. Focus on your own life bud.
Wow! You just SUPER impressed me with THE most inspired and poignant analysis of one of my all time favourite artists. You got yourself another well deserved fan. I’m checking out all your channels and spreading the word! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!
I think this is my favourite video by you. I love how you address the complexity of love and legacy. These kinda of ideas fuel my own creative work, and I hope I can get to explore them as succinctly and as eloquently as you do
Lou Reed was the most important influence on my musical taste, from his time in the Velvets, to the end of his career. 'Berlin' must be one of the saddest, yet most operatic albums ever. 'Perfect Day' always made me feel a bit melancholic, as did 'Candy Says'. Reed is a seriously underrated and complex artist.
I think in this video, you have perfectly described who Lou Reed was and his troubles. As a fan and reading all of the stuff I could get about him, it was sad to read about what he did, what he suffered and struggled with. But I think you hit the nail on the head on how we should see him. A flawed person but who gave us beautiful music and words that no one else would and could have written.
I picked up Lou reed when I was a yellow cab driver in Chelsea one time. I was so shocked and in awe like oh man it’s Lou reed. He was kind of in a bad mood. I never really would bother celebrities if I pick them up. But I loved reed … he wasn’t necessarily mean to me just grumpy. . Anyway that’s my Lou reed story.
Lou Reed is one of the most underrated artists in today’s society. Not only is his solo work amazing but his stuff with The Velvet Underground was truly revolutionary, and yet many people in today’s society have never even heard his name.
No, you mean many millennials and z generations, the others know him. By the way for the revolution in the VU we should give more credit to John Cale and Tom Wilson (also producer of Zappa and Bob Dylan) than Lou Reed.
@@marlowename3713 It's a very good thing, but I think the majority of young people doesn't know Lou Reed. I'm 25 and VU is my favorite band as well, some know them but if I say Lou Reed people look at me with a confused face.
This was a beautiful video. Your work has grown from being interesting and quite good to deeply profound and introspective. I love each new one more than the former. Great work!
He frequently talked about his heroin addiction in interviews and wrote quite a few songs about heroin, the most notable being “Heroin” and “I’m Waiting For the Man”
@@desmondpoppy4511 agreed. I was also a heroin addict, but during gigs and times I needed to work, I also used speed. It's not like you have to choose *one* specific drug and only do that.
He shot up.on stage. In NZ the "homebake" he used was so strong he didnt go on. He apologised to fans and did the concert the following day. It was one of his best ever performances
@@huepix Haha, no he didn't. He cancelled the gig because he was way too fucked up, yeah, but he mimed the injection as part of the act with a mic cable wrapped around his arm. It was all just an act that got exaggerated so many times by word of mouth retellings that it ended up becoming legend.
Song writing, just like poetry, is the art of packing dense, complex meaning into the fewest possible words, with rhyming patterns as a bonus, but not essential. I believe it is the most demanding and difficult form of writing.
I rather have him do a video about good albums or songs or about an important event. Lulu is a complete mess and a terrible idea from the start. Nevertheless there is some interest in talking about terrible works of art. I mean I spent a lot of time in the past watching things about Tommy Wiseaus The Room as well as on Cory Feldman´s Angelik 2 the Core.
Perfect timing! I’m in the middle of several VU documentaries- including a fantastic three part Sterling Morrison series by Cam Forrester. Lou INDEED is a most complicated character.
channels like yours where you learn so much about things you didn't think you were interested in, and are so well researched are the crown jewel of youtube
This essay make me cry. Damn. I'm so emotional right now. As the majority I thought this song was about heroin, this essay change it forever. The feeling of the song will be more intense the next time I listen to it.
You can't imagine how relevant this little video was to exactly what's going on with me at this moment. Thank you for taking the trouble to make it. The video was crafted as well as any Lou Reed song. You nailed it. Cheers.
This is a well done analysis IMO and I like how you put it in the context of Lou's life and problems. I have a Godson that I often think of when I hear this song. The utter simplidity of the song is stunning. This fits well with all the perfect days to got to spend with him; he makes me feel like someone good, and I know that in years to come I will reap what I have sown with him.
Love this. Lou Reed is great but I never bothered to search more about his personal life, and now I'm a little sad to know about all these facts. But it is truly insightful to experience his music more deeply. Such a troubled man.
I genuinely appreciate your videos. Youve turned me on to an entirely different aspect of the art that is in music and I thank you for that. I really hope you keep doing videos lile this!! Its doing way more for people than you know!
This video definitely did not get lost in the algorithm, but more importantly, ended up on the algorithm of someone that cares about the same exact topics that you do. Thank you.
9:09 - This is a compelling conclusion to your analysis. Expanding on that, I would say there is one love that can save someone, and that is self-love. Holding yourself accountable and being honest about your own flaws is the only way that can be achieved. People often seem to think that being loved by someone else will make them feel better about their own insecurity and lead to happiness. And often it does for a period of time. But in the end that happiness or completeness they seek is lacking. It can also be dangerous because that mindset makes you vulnerable to abusers who will exploit that vulnerability. None of us are perfect lads, so don't be so hard on yourself. If you don't love you, then you can't expect someone else to.
Your way of editing beatuiful and sad topics and the way you voice to your script is so beautiful that it puts me in a mood i simply cannot describe, all i know is that it is real.
Maan, thanks for posting this video. It kinda hitted way closer to home than i though (and honestly would've like) it would and is really making me reflect about who i am today and which experiences made me got to this point, i've always felt a very deep conection and empathy with Lou lyrics even thou i've never really knew or cared to research about his past and personal life. keep up the good work, your videos are great.
I swear to god Polyphonic, whenever I find a new artist to obsess over, within a month there is a new video from you informing me of everything I would want to know about a musician's story.
I'll be your mirror, reflect what you are... in case you don't know.. It's that final line that separates Lou from the pack. As if the first two lines aren't enough, you get that final thought.. so beautiful. This was a wonderful video you created.
This is amazing!!! Thank you so much for making this. Lou Reed is incredible. For anyone who wants to treat them selves to an immersive peak into his life spend an evening listening to the album "Street Hassle". You won't regret it!
When he sang You're going to reap just what you sow I always took it as like a cautionary tale like hey if you don't watch out you're going to fall in love
I believe a deep connection of this specific feeling of love expressed in the song and heroin as well as depression can't be rejected. It is this kind of love which experiences quit the feeling which heroin can numb. It is this kind of feeling which hangs about the edge of depression and melancholy.
