Thank You Lou

Instead of my usual round up of stuff I bought over the last however long it's been I am going to talk about Lou Reed. It's been just over a week since he died, and all I've listened to for seven days has been Lou Reed records.

I think I relate to Lou's music a little differently than many of his fans do, and differently than most artists I am a fan of. The thing is, I don't really relate. Not on a personal level, at least not often or directly. I agree with many of the points he's tried to make, especially in his later work, and the studio version of "The Kids" cuts every time with the actual kids screaming for their mommy. Fuck, Lou, did you have to do that? Yeah, you did, I know. Because it makes people (me) uncomfortable and that's what makes it art.

And that's where I relate. The uncomfortableness of art. Art can be beautiful, heart warming and give a most pleasant feeling of joy, or at least contentment, to its audience. And Lou does that a bit more often than he's given credit for. And I lie that, but what gets me is the other stuff. I won't use the term "dark" because I am not sure that it was intended that way, and Lou himself didn't like the term either. I'll call it honesty. Lou was always honest.

This is not to say that every word he wrote was in some way autobiographical. I think the majority probably weren't. But even in fiction, Lou knew how to cut to the bare bones of any given emotion or situation. Sometimes brutally, and sometimes poetically in such a way that the listener may not even understand the meaning until going through multiple listens. There is a sharp wit, if you care to look for it, and a sense of hope in the darkne--- er, thick of things. There's also some real bad stuff going on. But that's life. Like the man himself said, it's Magic and Loss. There's a whole lotta good and then some bad to even things out. Sha la la man. You know, I always maintain that writing poetry and writing song lyrics are two different things. They may overlap but they are different. Lou Reed is the exception to that rule.

And then there was the music. Minimalist, but played with integrity. Individual musicians could have room to get a lick in, but everything served the song. And the song was three chords, pure and from the heart. Basic, straight rock and roll. Unless it wasn't. A little bit of classical got mixed in as well as funk, early rap, doo wop, smooth jazz, and avant-garde noise to name a few. When you put on a Lou Reed record you never were completely sure what it would sound like, but Lou would be there to get you through it, even if it wasn't pretty, he's the best guide you could have and that was reassuring.

I have tried to put together a list of my favorite Lou Reed songs, my play list if you will. Ten songs wouldn't scratch the surface so I'll double it. So here in no particular order are my favorite Lou Reed (and some Velvet Underground) songs, presented with a giant thank you to Mr. Lou Reed for the art and the heart, with all the respect you deserve.

1. Sweet Jane
2. White Light/White Heat
3.Vicious
4. Walk On The Wild Side (it's not poser to like this song-it's poser to pretend you don't!)
5.Caroline Says II
6.Waiting For The Man
7. Street Hassle
8. Sally Can't Dance
9. No Money Down
10. Dirty Blvd.
11.New Sensations
12.Magic And Loss-The Summation
13. Satellite Of Love
14. Perfect Day
15. Finish Line
16. Talking Book
17. Into The Divine
18. Hooky Wooky
19. Rock And Roll
20. Legendary Hearts

Alternate: LULU. It's not represented here because it only works as a piece, not song to song. Go ahead and laugh, but in 20 years you're going to agree with me.