Lou Reed is a certified lyrical genius, and sadly enough, doesn't get recognized enough as one of the greatest lyrics and poetry writers in history. He's still criminally underrated.
Disagree..as Those whom know of Lou Reed/John Cale .the Pickwick time..Im kinda glad that he's Always bern loved in European Countries..A Big splash hit lp..wouldve messed a bit w/-The Lou Reed We all know n love now..Rec;The A.M.C.Doc Rock n Roll heart.Personly think his Songs tell the best Things..all thru..ps;Thank goodness For Laurie Anderson..!!
"The Gift" as a short story is actually amazingly written for a rock song, so it's no surprise it was originally a short story he wrote in the early '60s.
This is a sensitive and gentle approach to Reed's life and poetry. But in referring to Delmore Schwartz, and mentioning some of Schwartz' mentors, I think you did a great deal of injustice by not mentioning Mr. Saul Bellow's "Humboldt's Gift" (where Humboldt is the pseudonym for Delmore). This book is a brilliant and savoury eulogy to Mr. Schwartz and his work.
I commend you for the historical accuracy that went into this. You need to make more of these, perhaps the literary influences of Paul McCartney? Or Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)? I'm itching to know more about the literary inspirations of my favorite music!
I will definitely look into that. I am considering making this "literary influences of..." a series so she'll definitely be on the list alongside Ian Curtis, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain etc. Thanks for watching :)
@@joseybryant7577 I havent read him myself but I'll have to give him a go. I think Ian had an encounter with Burroughs once and Burroughs told him to fuck off haha. Should be an interesting one!
Jim Morrison was also a fan of Rimbaud, along with Artaud, Blake, Huxley, Camus, the beats, etc. Be interesting to see one on his influences. Good job on this one brother
You HAVE to make this a series! dude this gives so much life and inspiration to me as a songwriter and tons of others such as myself who’ll stumble upon this video (and hopefully this series). You’re very much appreciated, I just subscribed and turned your notifications on because of this video
Thank you, I appreciate that a lot. Next vid in the series will be on Ian Curtis! If you have any suggestions for musicians to look into in the future feel free to let me know. Good luck with the music as well man, hope all goes well for you :)
I was 15 when I first lisened to VU in The Doors movie. Big Lou and Jim's fan. No internet back then so took me time to track their literary influences. But once I did I found a brand new world, from the beat generation to Rimbaud... read all that im your teens and you will become a differente person. So thank you for this presntation. I wish many teens today will track those brilliant artists thanks to this video.
You forgot to mention he specifically dedicated one song -a marvellous one, by the way- to Delmore Schwartz in his album "The Blue Mask" which is his best album, in my opinion. Thanks a lot & congratulations, anyway!
To me I think that's one major difference between the music and art of the 60s/ 70s and music of today. Back then, bands were informed by literature, but the music of today seems to be mostly inspired by other music and pop culture nostalgia. So you're getting a shadow of a shadow a copy of a copy. Lou Reed name the songs after books. Bands of today named their songs after Velvet underground songs. Imitating ideas of which they have no idea the origins or meaning
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. So much important information in this video. Really great analysis. I loved ebrything about it. No matter how much I study Reed's work, there's always something under the hood which is left in the dark.
WARNING: FLASHING LIGHTS BETWEEN 9:15 - 16:45 Subscribe to my Substack for free weekly updates on the behind-the-scenes of The Selador! selador.substack.com/?r=g86pk&
Okay, so he didn't write the great American Novel. He ONLY wrote The Great American Rock Album. While the title of Great...Novel is still up for debate, no one can deny that The Velvet Underground And Nico IS The Greatest Rock Album in history. AND he was no former cookie stealing from blues and Appalachian guys right and left. He may've cribbed a few doo-wop lyrics, but that's it. Like the Beatles, he started in the 50s and never looked back. And the Velvets gave birth in 1966 to the greatest marriage of sound and sense since...well, no one was as great. All arguments for albums 2,3,4, and VU are acceptable. Even Live 1969 is acceptable.
His work became increasingly less literal as more time passed and his frustrations with the band grew. The 3rd VU album was his attempt to steer away from the more avant garde work of the first two albums. Not only are the lyrics to those songs less a complex tapestry of words, but the music itself was more digestible and converse to the type of music on the earlier albums. See the demos from the recording of the 4th album to see just how far Reed came from where he begun as a poet. Ironically, his songs later took on a more poetic edge in his solo career for a brief time (see: Berlin).
It's not ironic. I think you're a little missing in facts. The band sounded softer and abandoned the avant-garde sound after the second album because member John Cale(who was the avant-garde member of the group), left the band. Loaded was commercially sounding and far from the sound of the debut because the record company wanted a commercial radio hits album, so you could say Lou Reed was kind of "forbiddened" from writing about Taboo topics like he used to. The self titled album, lyrically, wasn't far from Lou Reed's style. It's still very much Reed. It still discusses many Taboo issues like Transgender woman for example(candy says). Only once Reed left the band and went to his solo work, that he went back to his roots and started discussing and writing about the things he usually writes about. Loaded was the only album where Reed wasn't himself lyrically.
@@seanpanigel5494 Cale didn't "leave" the band. Lou Reed booted him because Reed was ready to make a concerted effort to move the band away from the style of the first two albums and towards something more commercially viable, and the last two VU albums are the products of that effort. There's interviews with associates of the band like Michael Carlucci that say that Lou couldn't sanction Cale's ideas, like recording music with amps submerged underwater. In other words, if Lou Reed was truly going to make the Velvet Underground more accessible then Cale had to go. So that's what Lou did.
@@sonyabladesbooty3890 whether it's true what you say or not, what I said about Reed's lyrics still stands. the only album that wasn't in Reed's style lyrically, was Loaded. the self titled album, and right from the beginning of his solo career, are 100% Reed's style. and the self titled album has amazing amazing poetic very well worded lyrics, I don't know what you're talking about. read After Hours and tell me it's not amazing poetic or very well worded lyrics. Reed didn't steer away from his lyrical style or high level of poetry on the self titled album. only on Loaded. once he started his solo career, he went back to his style.
@@seanpanigel5494 I didn't say there wasn't a poetry to those songs. I said the style of those songs are distinctly different than on the first two albums. And he most definitely did change up his songwriting on the third album, both in lyrical content and in the music style itself. The only song on that album you can even argue is anything like the previous albums is "The Murder Mystery".
I can't imagine how many hours went into researching the text of this presentation. The finding of the images used was also an enormous feat. And the typeface is historically accurate. A brilliant, admirable construction! Thank you.
@@thegreenbird795 I would argue that Dylan when he was on form did not include fluff even when the song was long. I mean, which verse can you take out of Desolation Row ? Or The Hurricane ? Or Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts ?
that’s how i feel as well. Dylan was a poet with a folk background and Lou was one with a more rock (punkish?) background. There’s honesty in both of their stuff but just in different ways
So that's the Delmore Lou was referring to in that great first track of The Blue Mask. Interesting that was Lou's first album after he cleaned up and he talks about the the spirit of his 'teacher, poet, and wandering Jew.' being present.
I really appreciate how you tied in your literary expertise into the Art Rock world. The literary aspects added much more depth to this video. They gave me an enriched perspective on Reed as a literary talent as well as a musical one. It's interesting to consider how those two fields played into each other with Reed's work. Good work!
Lou Reed is a certified lyrical genius, and sadly enough, doesn't get recognized enough as one of the greatest lyrics and poetry writers in history. He's still criminally underrated.
Disagree..as Those whom know of Lou Reed/John Cale .the Pickwick time..Im kinda glad that he's Always bern loved in European Countries..A Big splash hit lp..wouldve messed a bit w/-The Lou Reed We all know n love now..Rec;The A.M.C.Doc Rock n Roll heart.Personly think his Songs tell the best Things..all thru..ps;Thank goodness For Laurie Anderson..!!
"The Gift" as a short story is actually amazingly written for a rock song, so it's no surprise it was originally a short story he wrote in the early '60s.
Honestly, I’d read that story just as entertainment, with no music
@@rashotcake6945 i have done this actually
Waldo Jeffrys had reached his limit
@@serjtankian5474 It was now mid-August, which meant he had been separated from Marsha for more than two months.
@@dwightcronenweth7901 Two months, and all he had to show was three dog-eared letters and two very expensive long-distance phone calls.
Influence for Heroin : heroin
I hope it wasn’t the death of him
@@Xxxxxrrr6464 Well I've got bad news for you
Great video! Also a book of note would be "A Walk on the Wild Side" by Nelson Algren, written in 1956.
This is a sensitive and gentle approach to Reed's life and poetry. But in referring to Delmore Schwartz, and mentioning some of Schwartz' mentors, I think you did a great deal of injustice by not mentioning Mr. Saul Bellow's "Humboldt's Gift" (where Humboldt is the pseudonym for Delmore). This book is a brilliant and savoury eulogy to Mr. Schwartz and his work.
What an amazingly niche but interesting TH-cam topic
I commend you for the historical accuracy that went into this. You need to make more of these, perhaps the literary influences of Paul McCartney? Or Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)? I'm itching to know more about the literary inspirations of my favorite music!
A similar video on Patti Smith might be interesting. Particularly her reverence for Rimbaud
I will definitely look into that. I am considering making this "literary influences of..." a series so she'll definitely be on the list alongside Ian Curtis, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain etc. Thanks for watching :)
@@TheSelador Oh man, looking forward to Ian Curtis. J.G. Ballard wrote some wild stuff.
@@joseybryant7577 I havent read him myself but I'll have to give him a go. I think Ian had an encounter with Burroughs once and Burroughs told him to fuck off haha. Should be an interesting one!
Jim Morrison was also a fan of Rimbaud, along with Artaud, Blake, Huxley, Camus, the beats, etc. Be interesting to see one on his influences. Good job on this one brother
@@petederek7174 I'll stick him on the list, thank you for the suggestion!
i feel like this channel was made for literally all my interests. Bravo
You HAVE to make this a series! dude this gives so much life and inspiration to me as a songwriter and tons of others such as myself who’ll stumble upon this video (and hopefully this series). You’re very much appreciated, I just subscribed and turned your notifications on because of this video
Thank you, I appreciate that a lot. Next vid in the series will be on Ian Curtis! If you have any suggestions for musicians to look into in the future feel free to let me know. Good luck with the music as well man, hope all goes well for you :)
@@TheSelador Someone already mentioned it so I know he’s on your list, but David Bowie!
I was 15 when I first lisened to VU in The Doors movie. Big Lou and Jim's fan. No internet back then so took me time to track their literary influences. But once I did I found a brand new world, from the beat generation to Rimbaud... read all that im your teens and you will become a differente person. So thank you for this presntation. I wish many teens today will track those brilliant artists thanks to this video.
What Baudelaire was to 1840's-'50's Paris, Lou Reed was to 1960's-'70's New York.
This was SO much fun to watch. Thank you for taking the time to make this.
No problem, thank you for watching!
“Sister , I’m a poet”-S.M. I love this mini doc it’s too cute
This was very good. Well done for putting it together.
Bringing the sensitivities of the novel to rock music 😎awesome!!
You forgot to mention he specifically dedicated one song -a marvellous one, by the way- to Delmore Schwartz in his album "The Blue Mask" which is his best album, in my opinion. Thanks a lot & congratulations, anyway!
You're right I completely forgot to mention that, it mustve slipped my mind somehow haha. Thanks for watching!
To me I think that's one major difference between the music and art of the 60s/ 70s and music of today.
Back then, bands were informed by literature, but the music of today seems to be mostly inspired by other music and pop culture nostalgia. So you're getting a shadow of a shadow a copy of a copy.
Lou Reed name the songs after books. Bands of today named their songs after Velvet underground songs.
Imitating ideas of which they have no idea the origins or meaning
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. So much important information in this video. Really great analysis. I loved ebrything about it. No matter how much I study Reed's work, there's always something under the hood which is left in the dark.
You’re a legend for making this
this is the most epic summary of im waiting for the man ever. i’m imagining it’s john cleese speaking it
One of my favourite TH-camrs ever
WARNING: FLASHING LIGHTS BETWEEN 9:15 - 16:45
Subscribe to my Substack for free weekly updates on the behind-the-scenes of The Selador!
selador.substack.com/?r=g86pk&
Haaaa.
A deeper analysis of certain songs from Loy Reed's solo career would be cool
The Velvet Underground changed my life
Solid video, man. Cheers 🍻🍻
Okay, so he didn't write the great American Novel. He ONLY wrote The Great American Rock Album. While the title of Great...Novel is still up for debate, no one can deny that The Velvet Underground And Nico IS The Greatest Rock Album in history. AND he was no former cookie stealing from blues and Appalachian guys right and left. He may've cribbed a few doo-wop lyrics, but that's it. Like the Beatles, he started in the 50s and never looked back. And the Velvets gave birth in 1966 to the greatest marriage of sound and sense since...well, no one was as great. All arguments for albums 2,3,4, and VU are acceptable. Even Live 1969 is acceptable.
I saw Lou Reed perform Poe's "the Raven" at bumbershoot. The asshole children threw batteries at Lou Reed and one person hit him with a "C" cell.
it all culminated to Lulu
amazing video!!
RIP.
Playing Bloom to my Dedalus.....!!!!!
I like the Banana 🍌 Album
+1 subscriber
Reed had dyslexia. He couldn't write more than a few lines at a time. Maybe that is why his only choice was poetry or Hemingwayesque writing.
This was more like a lyrical analysis. I wanted a list of books.
😮
🙀
I really want to watch this but your voice is not pleasant at all. Recommend working on this 👍
What are you on about mate? His voice is fine
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I recommend you reverse your lobotomy!
His work became increasingly less literal as more time passed and his frustrations with the band grew. The 3rd VU album was his attempt to steer away from the more avant garde work of the first two albums. Not only are the lyrics to those songs less a complex tapestry of words, but the music itself was more digestible and converse to the type of music on the earlier albums. See the demos from the recording of the 4th album to see just how far Reed came from where he begun as a poet. Ironically, his songs later took on a more poetic edge in his solo career for a brief time (see: Berlin).
It's not ironic. I think you're a little missing in facts.
The band sounded softer and abandoned the avant-garde sound after the second album because member John Cale(who was the avant-garde member of the group), left the band.
Loaded was commercially sounding and far from the sound of the debut because the record company wanted a commercial radio hits album, so you could say Lou Reed was kind of "forbiddened" from writing about Taboo topics like he used to.
The self titled album, lyrically, wasn't far from Lou Reed's style.
It's still very much Reed.
It still discusses many Taboo issues like Transgender woman for example(candy says).
Only once Reed left the band and went to his solo work, that he went back to his roots and started discussing and writing about the things he usually writes about.
Loaded was the only album where Reed wasn't himself lyrically.
@@seanpanigel5494 Cale didn't "leave" the band. Lou Reed booted him because Reed was ready to make a concerted effort to move the band away from the style of the first two albums and towards something more commercially viable, and the last two VU albums are the products of that effort. There's interviews with associates of the band like Michael Carlucci that say that Lou couldn't sanction Cale's ideas, like recording music with amps submerged underwater. In other words, if Lou Reed was truly going to make the Velvet Underground more accessible then Cale had to go. So that's what Lou did.
@@sonyabladesbooty3890 whether it's true what you say or not, what I said about Reed's lyrics still stands. the only album that wasn't in Reed's style lyrically, was Loaded.
the self titled album, and right from the beginning of his solo career, are 100% Reed's style.
and the self titled album has amazing amazing poetic very well worded lyrics, I don't know what you're talking about.
read After Hours and tell me it's not amazing poetic or very well worded lyrics. Reed didn't steer away from his lyrical style or high level of poetry on the self titled album. only on Loaded. once he started his solo career, he went back to his style.
@@seanpanigel5494 I didn't say there wasn't a poetry to those songs. I said the style of those songs are distinctly different than on the first two albums. And he most definitely did change up his songwriting on the third album, both in lyrical content and in the music style itself. The only song on that album you can even argue is anything like the previous albums is "The Murder Mystery".
excellent
I can't imagine how many hours went into researching the text of this presentation. The finding of the images used was also an enormous feat. And the typeface is historically accurate. A brilliant, admirable construction! Thank you.
No problem man, thank you for watching.
Awesome video essay and nice editing. I never knew about Schwartz. A Bollingen prize winner turned addict is a very Lou Reed influence
I've always felt that Lou was the urban Dylan
Dylan could be a bit long winded..Lou was concise and to the point...
@@thegreenbird795 I would argue that Dylan when he was on form did not include fluff even when the song was long. I mean, which verse can you take out of Desolation Row ? Or The Hurricane ? Or Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts ?
that’s how i feel as well. Dylan was a poet with a folk background and Lou was one with a more rock (punkish?) background. There’s honesty in both of their stuff but just in different ways
So that's the Delmore Lou was referring to in that great first track of The Blue Mask. Interesting that was Lou's first album after he cleaned up and he talks about the the spirit of his 'teacher, poet, and wandering Jew.' being present.
would love to see one of these on someone like robert smith or even morrissey despite his horrific post smiths outbursts
I've stuck them on the list, thank you for the suggestions!
Reed was an interesting guy a great artist
You did an amazing job on this!! Thank you very much.
I really appreciate how you tied in your literary expertise into the Art Rock world. The literary aspects added much more depth to this video. They gave me an enriched perspective on Reed as a literary talent as well as a musical one. It's interesting to consider how those two fields played into each other with Reed's work. Good work!
My favourite work of Reed’s is ‘Berlin’ it’s a masterpiece of an album musically and lyrically and a heartbreaking story.
A brilliant video, you explain everything very detailed. I was always curious about the poetic interest of Lou Reed. Undoubtedly a great artist.
wow this was such a great video essay. thank you for putting the time in to create this!!
Where does Lou get his inspiration? He reeds.
Keep up the good work man 👍
this was wonderful. thank you
This is really good. Thanks for all the work that went into it. ❤
love love loved this
Great video. Lou Reed is definitely one of the great American writers.
Stetson showed me the velvet underground, Changed my life.
👍🏻👆🏻👍🏻
Can you create video about Kurt Cobain?
Lyrics,Poetry,Short Story and Paintings
OPSAN