Of course. As with the death of any legend, the news of Lou Reed's death takes us back to all the bad-ass places Lou Reed's music took us: locking eyes with a sultry stranger across a gin-soaked lounge in the East Village as "Take A Walk on the Wild Side" implored us to hold our gaze just long enough that we had no choice but to go dance with one another; smoking "hubbly-bubbly" with the patriarch of a conservative Muslim family in the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir, oddly inspired to write nonsense poetry about "All Tomorrow's Parties" as the stoned villagers hunt for ducks over picturesque Daal Lake, because even though you had no idea this place existed, you "& Nico" was the album you wanted to be listening to on repeat when you were here; jamming to the iconic changes of Sweet Jane around a campfire, warbling only the chorus because the neophytes didn't know the lyrics and the devotees were of course too banged up to remember them... and that's the obvious point: Lou Reed's music took us to way fucking cooler places than other music, because Reed was way fucking cooler than other musicians. In this era of 24 hour news cycles and fan-Wikis and blogs and blogs about blogs, the truest remaining measure of "cool" is remaining underrated despite the fact that all anyone ever talks about is how underrated you are. This is Lou Reed underrated. This is Lou Reed cool.
But what saddens me about Lou Reed dying in 2013, although he would not give a tenth of an iota of a flying feces about this, is the way Lou Reed's death will be digested by the public, and how the occasion calls for something "the occasion" probably has never called for before: MTV News.
When Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994, it was the biggest news story in the history of MTV1. I was stunned, mostly because my big sister was stunned, and everything I learned about how to consume, appreciate, and judge music was learned from her, but also because I knew this guy and his music, and Kurt Loder interrupted my viewing of the "Basketcase" video in order to tell me about it ("Goddammit Kurt Loder, you only ever say boring stuff! Let's get back to Green Day! Holy crap! Kurt Cobain died?! Lauren is crying. I better listen to Kurt Loder.). Regardless, I knew that Kurt Cobain was cool, and it was a big deal that he had died, whether MTV told me so or not.
A year later, though, Jerry Garcia died, and MTV interrupted my broadcast of Naughty By Nature's "Feel Me Flow" to tell me about it. Ten year old me reacted in much the same way: "Goddammit Tabitha Soren! You're not even hot! Kurt Cobain was a big deal, but the old dude from the Grateful Dead? I mean, the skeleton stuff in the "Touch of Grey" video was cool, but back to the videos!"
But MTV told me that this was a big deal. There were candlelight vigils. Crying fans. Ice cream tributes. Even the president was asked to talk about him! Maybe there was more to this Jerry Garcia character than I had realized. So I hunted through my sister's and my dad's mix tapes, and found some more Grateful Dead songs, and I discovered Casey Jones and Scarlet Begonias, and I discovered that some bands that I already liked were influenced by him! Like Blind Melon and Sublime (sadly, Jerry influenced them in many ways)! And I dove into reading about the endless touring, and made my dad tell me what DeadHeads were, and generally developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Grateful Dead, and music in general, and in turn, I eventually let Lou Reed's music take me to all those cool places.
All this because Kurt Loder told me this person was important. What saddens me about Lou Reed dying in 2013 is that some ten-year-old kid who likes music will not have his Buzzfeed browsing interrupted to be told that this man, who just died, was important. He may happen to click on a link to 15 of the Coolest Lou Reed moments (a link sponsored by Natural American Spirit cigarettes, mind you), or he may opt to peruse 19 More Funny Cats in Diapers instead. That kid may miss out on a lot. Where are you when we need you, Kurt Loder? I need you. The kids need you. Lou Reed needs you.
Strike that. There's no way in hell, where Lou is probably having a blast, that Lou Reed needs Kurt Loder.
1: Approximation made by me based on absolutely nothing.
But what saddens me about Lou Reed dying in 2013, although he would not give a tenth of an iota of a flying feces about this, is the way Lou Reed's death will be digested by the public, and how the occasion calls for something "the occasion" probably has never called for before: MTV News.
When Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994, it was the biggest news story in the history of MTV1. I was stunned, mostly because my big sister was stunned, and everything I learned about how to consume, appreciate, and judge music was learned from her, but also because I knew this guy and his music, and Kurt Loder interrupted my viewing of the "Basketcase" video in order to tell me about it ("Goddammit Kurt Loder, you only ever say boring stuff! Let's get back to Green Day! Holy crap! Kurt Cobain died?! Lauren is crying. I better listen to Kurt Loder.). Regardless, I knew that Kurt Cobain was cool, and it was a big deal that he had died, whether MTV told me so or not.
A year later, though, Jerry Garcia died, and MTV interrupted my broadcast of Naughty By Nature's "Feel Me Flow" to tell me about it. Ten year old me reacted in much the same way: "Goddammit Tabitha Soren! You're not even hot! Kurt Cobain was a big deal, but the old dude from the Grateful Dead? I mean, the skeleton stuff in the "Touch of Grey" video was cool, but back to the videos!"
But MTV told me that this was a big deal. There were candlelight vigils. Crying fans. Ice cream tributes. Even the president was asked to talk about him! Maybe there was more to this Jerry Garcia character than I had realized. So I hunted through my sister's and my dad's mix tapes, and found some more Grateful Dead songs, and I discovered Casey Jones and Scarlet Begonias, and I discovered that some bands that I already liked were influenced by him! Like Blind Melon and Sublime (sadly, Jerry influenced them in many ways)! And I dove into reading about the endless touring, and made my dad tell me what DeadHeads were, and generally developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Grateful Dead, and music in general, and in turn, I eventually let Lou Reed's music take me to all those cool places.
All this because Kurt Loder told me this person was important. What saddens me about Lou Reed dying in 2013 is that some ten-year-old kid who likes music will not have his Buzzfeed browsing interrupted to be told that this man, who just died, was important. He may happen to click on a link to 15 of the Coolest Lou Reed moments (a link sponsored by Natural American Spirit cigarettes, mind you), or he may opt to peruse 19 More Funny Cats in Diapers instead. That kid may miss out on a lot. Where are you when we need you, Kurt Loder? I need you. The kids need you. Lou Reed needs you.
Strike that. There's no way in hell, where Lou is probably having a blast, that Lou Reed needs Kurt Loder.
