R.I.P. Lou Reed: He's Not Afraid to Die, the People All Called Him Alaska

LtoR: Andy, Mo, Lou

Lou Reed, who died today at age 71, was a rock star of both the highest and most subterranean order; he is on the short list of people who could be said more or less invented an entire genre of music. In Lou's case, it would be what is now known as alternative or underground rock. 

Lou worked briefly as a songwriter-for-hire, and used the chops he developed to explore the dark underbelly of life and love with simple chords and powerful expressions. 

Lou's work with the Velvet Underground laid out the blueprint for melodic yet challenging rock that the cool kids like and turn their friends on to. It's a template that was employed successfully by Talking Heads, R.E.M., U2, Wilco and countless others.

In 1985, a great lost Velvet Underground record was released under the title VU. It was recorded in 1968 after The Velvet Underground but before Loaded. I actually have no idea why it was shelved, but when it came out it got amazing reviews so I picked it up, based on the fact that I loved the VU songs like "There She Goes Again" that R.E.M. had been covering as B-sides to singles like "Radio Free Europe." 

I brought the VU LP to college my sophomore year and it immediatlely became the soundtrack for our freewheeling, heavy late-night hemp-induced  conversations. 

Unlike VU records like The Velvet Underground and Nico and White Light/White Heat, which featured extended and very dark instrumental interludes, VU was a collection of 10 exquisitely dark pop yet very accessible garage-rocky tunes, and it remains my favorite record of theirs to this day. You could play it at a party without scaring anyone away. Of all the great songs on the record, "Stephanie Says" is the tune that my friends and I gravitated to most, and the one that takes me back to that special time.

Reading the lyrics to "Stephanie Says" now, I wonder if Lou isn't Stephanie. Given his proclivities in the 70s, it wouldn't surprise me.

Stephanie says that she wants to know
Why she's given half her life, to people she hates now
Stephanie says when answering the phone
What country shall I say is calling from across the world
 
But she's not afraid to die, the people all call her Alaska
Between worlds so the people ask her 'cause it's all in her mind
It's all in her mind
 
Stephanie says that she wants to know
Why it is though she's the door she can't be the room
Stephanie says but doesn't hang up the phone
What sea shell she is calling from across the world
 
But she's not afraid to die, the people all cal her Alaska
Between worlds so the people ask her 'cause it's all in her mind
It's all in her mind
 
She asks you is it good or bad
It's such an icy feeling it's so cold in Alaska,
It's so cold in Alaska, it's so cold in Alaska

R.I.P. Lou.

Buy VU on iTunes here.