Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisnaholic
Ha Ha ! You should never judge an album by the size of its cover.
I suppose it`s equally unfair to judge an album by its opening lines:
Lou Reed: Sunday morning, praise the dawning - a feeble, contrived rhyme that only a 14-year-old should be proud of.
Beefheart: My smile is stuck. I cannot go back to your Frownland - the unusual use of simple words in blank verse highlights just how conventional Lou Reed`s writing was.
Also, Chives, don`t rule out the possibility that you get bored because some of the music is boring. For an album that`s regarded as avantgarde, it has some surprisingly dull and dated elements.
This track, for instance, was just an unexceptional filler on an record that the Stones had made two years prior to the Velvets reworking it :-
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Yes, I honestly feel that "There She Goes Again" is the second weakest track on the album (after "Femme Fatale"). This is largely due to the fact that it borders on plagiarism and could have been written (instrumentally, that is) by any other garage rock band at the time. However, it's still retains some creativity. The subject behind the song deals with prostitution. Reed sings in a joking/playful manner with a sarcastic chorus (Cale and Morrison) bellowing "There she goes!" in the background. All of this is backed by a funky and upbeat instrumental section, which sort of adds an element of humor to the whole affair. So... in a way, it's still creative.
Reed's lyricism (influenced by his teacher and mentor, Delmore Schwartz), as you briefly mentioned, was
intended to be simplistic. The idea behind this was to convey as much meaning and emotion as he possibly could with very few words... not too dissimilar to what Hemingway did as an author. The funny thing is he continued this concept with his singing, which could easily be viewed as a flaw. Although, in the case, it's a strength in that he's attempting to do with his voice what he was doing with his lyrics. Except this time he's conveying as much emotion as he can with a voice dominated by monotone and a deadpan aesthetic.