― Lynskey (Lynskey), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 20:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 20:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 20:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
"...There's only one good thing about a small town - you hate it, and you know you have to leave."
― chrys sallys, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 23:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― angelo (angelo), Wednesday, 27 November 2002 01:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 00:29 (eighteen years ago) link
It was a very cold clear fall nightI had a terrible dreamBilly Name and Brigid were playing under my stair case on the second floor about two o'clock in the morning
I woke up because Amos and Archie had started barkingThat made me very angry because I wasn't feeling well and I told them I was very cross the real me that they just better remember what happened to Sam the bad cat that was left at home and got sick and went pussy heaven
It was a very cold clear fall nightSome snowflakes were fallingGee, it was so beautifuland so I went to get my camera to take some picturesAnd then I was taking the picturesbut the exposure thing wasn't rightand I was going to call Fred or Gerryto find out how to get set itI was too lateand then I remembered they were still probably at dinnerand anywayI felt really bad and didn't want to talk to anybodybut the snowflakes were so beautiful and real lookingand I really wanted to hold themAnd that's when I heard the voicesfrom down the hall near the stairsSo I got a flashlightand I was scared and I went out into the hallwayThere's been all kinds of troubleslately in the neighborhoodand someone's got to bring home the bacon and anywaythere were Brigid and Billy playing
And under the stair casewas a little meadow sort of like the park at 23rd streetwhere all the young kids go and play frisbeeGee, that must be funmaybe we should do an article on that in the magazinebut they'll just tell me I'm stupid and it won't sellbut I'll just hold my ground this time, I meanit's my magazine, isn't it?
So I was thinking that as the snowflakes felland I heard those voices having so much funGee, it would be so great to have some funSo I called Billybut either he didn't hear me or he didn't want to answerwhich was so strangebecauseeven if I don't like reunions I've always loved BillyI'm so glad he's workingI mean it's different than OndineHe keeps touring with those moviesand he doesn't even pay us and the filmI mean the film's just going to disintegrate and then whatI mean he's so normal off of drugsI just don't get it
And then I saw John Calehe's been looking really greatHe's been coming by the office to exercise with meRonnie said I have a musclebut he's been really mean since he went to AAI mean what does it meanwhen you give up drinking and then you're still so meanHe says I'm being lazy but I'm notI'm just can't find any ideasI mean I'm just notlet's face itgoing to get any ideas up at the office
And seeing John made me think of the Velvetsand I had been thinking about themwhen I was on St. Marks Placegoing to that new gallery those sweet new kids have openedbut the thought I was oldand then I saw the old DOMthe old club where we did our first showsIt was so greatAnd I don't understand about that Velvet's first albumI mean I did the coverI was the producerand I always see it repackagedand I've never gotten a penny from itHow could that beI should call Henrybut it was good seeing JohnI did a cover for himbut I did in black and white and he change it to colorIt would have been worth more if he'd left it my waybut you can never tell any body anything I've leaned that
I tried calling again to Billy and Johnthey wouldn't recognize me it was like I wasn't thereWhy won't they let me in
And then I saw LouI'm so mad at himLou Reed got married and didn't invite meI mean is it because he thought I'd bring too many peopleI don't get itcould have at least calledI mean he's doing so greatWhy doesn't he call me?I saw him at the MTV showand he was one row away and he didn't even say helloI don't get itYou know I hate LouI really doHe won't even hire us for his videosAnd I was proud of him
I was so scared todayThere was blood leaking thought my shirtfrom those old scars from being shotAnd the corset I wear to keep my insides in was hurtingAnd I did three sets of fifteen pushupsand four sets of ten setupsBut then my insides hurtand I saw drops of blood on my shirt and I rememberthe doctors saying I was deadAnd then later they had to take blood out of my hand'couse they ran out or veinsbut thenall this thinking was making me an old grouchand you can't do anything anyway soif they wouldn't let me play with them in my own dreamI was just going to have to make anotherand anotherand anotherGee, wouldn't it be funny if I died in this dreambefore I could make another one up
And nobody called
And nobody came
Still in my top 20 songs ever list after all these years.
― piscesboy, Tuesday, 17 January 2006 15:23 (eighteen years ago) link
must buy again. immediately.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 15:29 (eighteen years ago) link
but i haven't listened to it... well, probably since it came out.
― Mitya (mitya), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 15:40 (eighteen years ago) link
and i knew nothing about warhol then; simply that i loved this music. which in turn got me into the velvets, which in turn got me into ... well, everything. this will be an interesting journey.
"open house" seems to take me back to, umm, being 16 in a way with which i'm not entirely comfortable. the guitar particularly ;)
aaargh. "you scared yourself with music/i scared myself with paint/i drew 550 different shoes today/it almost made me faint/open house". somehow this lives in a little part of my subconscious.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 27 May 2006 23:40 (seventeen years ago) link
absolutely blinding. this has informed so much of what i've listened to in the last 15 years, and i've never realised.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 28 May 2006 00:24 (seventeen years ago) link
wow.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 28 May 2006 00:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 28 May 2006 01:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 28 May 2006 02:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― Adam S S (Zephery), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 18:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Rat Nasty (ratnasty), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 18:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 19:16 (seventeen years ago) link
-- Lynskey (pau...), November 26th, 2002.
^^^what a priss^^^
― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 19:37 (seventeen years ago) link
I believeLife's serious enough for retributionI believeBeing sick is no exucseI believeI would have pulled the switch on her myself
(That's how lots of people feel when a dear friend has been assaulted by a wingnut.)
― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― Adam S S (Zephery), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 23:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 23:55 (seventeen years ago) link
― Hideous Lump (Hideous Lump), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 02:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― timmy tannin (pompous), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 02:32 (seventeen years ago) link
woah @ A DREAM 17 years on.
― pisces, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 02:35 (sixteen years ago) link
eerie -- I heard this last week. "Nobody But You" and "Style It Takes" are just perfect.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 02:45 (sixteen years ago) link
I just bought this a week ago, and was surprised by how much I liked it, but then, in turn, surprised that I thought I wouldn't like it, and so forth. "Forever Changed" is pretty incredible.
― chris.steffen, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 05:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Style it Takes (live) on.. snl?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzgFOLa63A
― pisces, Thursday, 16 August 2007 01:55 (sixteen years ago) link
pretty sure that clip is from Sanborn's "Night Music" - arguably the best live music show ever broadcast on network TV
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 16:29 (sixteen years ago) link
good record! used to have the "deluxe edition" with a (i think) black velvet cover, but i'll be damned if i know where that went. looooove the version of "Style It Takes" on Cale's Fragments of A Rainy Season. "You want your freedom, make your freedom mine."
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 August 2007 16:40 (sixteen years ago) link
"Night Music" also hosted a fabulosu Pere Ubu performance of "Breath."
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:04 (sixteen years ago) link
also Sun Ra, Sonic Youth, etc etc
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:07 (sixteen years ago) link
this really was an unbelievable show
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Show 208
The Pixies Sun Ra Syd Straw Arthur Baker Al Green Sister Carol
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 20:10 (sixteen years ago) link
still no dvd for the original film?? going for a fortune on amazon/ebay.
you tube to the rescue! (partly at least) http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=songs+for+drella&search=Search
― piscesx, Saturday, 5 July 2008 19:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Ha! The person who came up with a much better thread title for this was rebuffed! Despicable! Fuck an ILM! At least it wasn't locked, but why post there?
ARRGH! Even Grimly Fiendish knows this one! Holy hell! Grimly? You know this one? I'm surprised.
Come on guys, talk to me about it. I've got the itch. Sometimes lately I just think I could be happy listening to Lou Reed and John Cale forever. That it would be pretty impossible to exhaust the pleasure I could get from those two men, musically. I'm playing "The Dream" for the first time, now, though. I don't think I actually got this far into this album on the bus last time I played it.
Grimly...you know this???
― Lucking Faptop (Bimble), Saturday, 11 April 2009 07:25 (fifteen years ago) link
"Images" sets my soul on fire, and the hairs on my arms stand on end. There are people who know what it is to feel passion about music, and there are those who don't. There are people who can write sane, 1000 word essays about music, maybe they are even paid for it, and I respect that because I can't relate to it. I side with those who are speechless.
It reminds me of when the last Kate Bush album came out after 12 long years. Now didn't that separate the men from the boys? Some people said "oh shame on you fuckers for losing your critical faculties" and others said "for god's sake shut the fuck up and listen". You know which side I'm on.
― Lucking Faptop (Bimble), Saturday, 11 April 2009 08:41 (fifteen years ago) link
bump
(came here to blather about hearing Drella for the first time this weekend...but Bimble's posts say it all so BUMP instead.)
― VegemiteGrrrl, Monday, 5 October 2009 23:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, the last is a classic Bimble post.
― Roman Polanski now sleeps in prison. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 5 October 2009 23:12 (fourteen years ago) link
one day someone will compile his posts into a Bimble Listener's guide and it will be awesome.
― VegemiteGrrrl, Monday, 5 October 2009 23:19 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6L0UD_zn4A
they still look so young here don't they? i love the looks Cale is giving Reed, also how they left the bum notes in.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 19:06 (thirteen years ago) link
i guess it's pointless doing a poll for it as A Dream would trounce all the others.
Nah – pretty sure I'd vote for "Style It Takes" or "Small Town."
― look at it, pwn3d, made u look at my peen/vadge (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 19:08 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, it'd be either "style it takes" or "open house" for me.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 19:10 (thirteen years ago) link
I would have pulled the switch on her myself
― buzza, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 19:10 (thirteen years ago) link
cale's "look" in that smalltown video is classic.
― jed_, Wednesday, 24 August 2011 20:31 (twelve years ago) link
this was one of the first cds i ever purchased. i first got into the velvets and then into this album so i did not find it as amazing as others on this thread (even compared to "loaded"). i liked it a lot though and haven't listened to it for 15 years or more. this was much more like a velvet reunion than the live reunion they did a couple of years later which was rubbish. favourite song, several ones, john cale's "style it takes" of course but i also liked lou reed's straightforward "work" for some reason. quite primitive and simple but i have a soft spot for that kind of strong, puritan working attitude as it is something i lack so much. overall this album is quite consistent and an absolute classic. i have to listen to it again.
― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 24 August 2011 21:05 (twelve years ago) link
I got this album as part of my Columbia Music Club 12 CDs for a $1 deal as a teenager
― satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 21:06 (twelve years ago) link
btw i found the next lou reed album "magic and loss" even more impressive. there was a thread on it somewhere. that music has got a soul healing quality. for the listener and even more so for the artist. it was about the death of two friends of lou reed. i always thought they had had aids but according to wikipedia they hadn't.
― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 24 August 2011 21:18 (twelve years ago) link
some of the best lou reed albums seem to be the ones he wrote about deceased friends.
― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 24 August 2011 21:21 (twelve years ago) link
drella was officially pulled back to the 10/24 RSD drop, which didn't prevent some stores from selling it anyway, but they were in the minority.
― Thus Sang Freud, Sunday, 6 September 2020 00:24 (three years ago) link
damn you CJV, listening to that it's hitting me all over again
― assert (MatthewK), Tuesday, 8 September 2020 08:15 (three years ago) link
<3
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 8 September 2020 13:59 (three years ago) link
Picked this up today — it was the only thing I wanted from the RSD list. Sounds effin great! I don’t think I’ve heard this since about 1994. Turns out, after some confusion, that the run was indeed 8500 copies, which probably means I’ll be buying a few more copies at half price somewhere down the road.
― The little engine that choogled (hardcore dilettante), Saturday, 24 October 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link
streaming free through the 19th.
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/lou-reed-john-cale-songs-for-drella-a-fiction-1990/?utm_campaign=586306_Drella%20Talks%2011%2F13&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&dm_i=63KQ,CKEA,5KDQYY,1B3GI,1
― Thus Sang Freud, Sunday, 15 November 2020 01:37 (three years ago) link
awesome. Thanks for the link!
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 15 November 2020 06:59 (three years ago) link
I only got/heard this within the last year or so and recently re-listened, pretty damn good. I look forward to spending more time with it.
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Sunday, 15 November 2020 07:17 (three years ago) link
The new 4K restoration of the film, screening in New York this week and next week
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2021/films/songs-for-drella/
― piscesx, Monday, 4 October 2021 03:13 (two years ago) link
Coming to a streaming service near you!
https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/unearthed-lou-reed-and-john-cale-songs-for-drella-concert-film-coming-to-streaming-137643/
― piscesx, Friday, 25 March 2022 18:17 (two years ago) link
I revisited this album last week (after several decades)… it’s really a masterpiece
― Please don’t take / My time change away (morrisp), Friday, 25 March 2022 18:45 (two years ago) link
I discovered it over lockdown. Love it to death.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Saturday, 26 March 2022 09:56 (two years ago) link
Yes it's a late masterpiece. Supposedly the movie is made from the footage also available on Youtube? Would love to see it in high quality.
― corrs unplugged, Saturday, 26 March 2022 10:11 (two years ago) link
Managed to avoid listening to this all these years but maybe tonight is the night.
― Mardi Gras Mambo Sun (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 March 2022 03:29 (two years ago) link
I think there was a laserdisc and VHS of the performance, but I'm not sure if it made it to DVD.
― assert (MatthewK), Sunday, 27 March 2022 04:30 (two years ago) link
OMG never mind, I watched the trailer for the restored version and it looks INCREDIBLE, the version I have is terrible by comparison.
― assert (MatthewK), Sunday, 27 March 2022 04:38 (two years ago) link
Never heard of MUBI… anyone have experience with it?
― Please don’t take / My time change away (morrisp), Sunday, 27 March 2022 05:09 (two years ago) link
I have subscribed for years and think it’s great although am always a little disappointed when something is streaming in the UK and Ireland but not the US.
― Mardi Gras Mambo Sun (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 March 2022 05:12 (two years ago) link
Fascinating interview with original director of the Drella film Ed Lachman, lots of technical detail about the new restored version. Lachman has a pretty amazing CV; cinematographer for Carol, Far From Heaven, The Virgin Suicides etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADENLtNXoBw
― piscesx, Monday, 28 March 2022 04:05 (two years ago) link
I don't listen to this much, but I still quote it. I think Lou would think that sufficient.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 28 March 2022 14:18 (two years ago) link
This is pretty well-done and fun to listen to after watching the doc. Surprisingly good meshing of latter day Lou and John. In particular enjoying wordy Lou lyrics more than expected.
― The Central Rockaliser (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 March 2022 15:50 (two years ago) link
Is “Trouble with Classicists” based on some stuff Andy actually said?
― The Central Rockaliser (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 29 March 2022 02:43 (two years ago) link
I can’t believe you never listened to this, James!
― Please don’t take / My time change away (morrisp), Tuesday, 29 March 2022 02:47 (two years ago) link
Lou called me a rat and I fired him.
― The Central Rockaliser (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 29 March 2022 03:13 (two years ago) link
But Billy saidBoth those nerds are dead
― The Central Rockaliser (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 29 March 2022 03:18 (two years ago) link
https://mubi.com/films/songs-for-drella
― corrs unplugged, Thursday, 21 April 2022 18:41 (one year ago) link
Ah brilliant!
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 21 April 2022 18:53 (one year ago) link
The story behind the restoration:
https://filmmakermagazine.com/112486-a-haunting-symbiosis-on-ed-lachmans-newly-restored-lou-reed-john-cale-concert-film-songs-for-drella/
I was pretty cool towards the album, but I found the movie on YouTube (a LaserDisc rip) and surprisingly it made a huge difference for me. Something about it made the whole project much more affecting - everything from the projected backdrops to just seeing John and Lou's faces. Probably helps that Lachmann is one of the great cinematographers and that comes through too in the lighting and composition.
Scanning from the original long-lost negatives makes a huge difference. Glad it's streamable but definitely see it projected if you can. I hope this gets a Blu-ray release as well.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 21 April 2022 18:57 (one year ago) link
Enjoy, MUBI UK and Ireland subscribers!
― Wile E. Kinbote (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 April 2022 19:55 (one year ago) link
John channelling the dreaming Andy is incredible.
― Wile E. Kinbote (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 April 2022 19:56 (one year ago) link
xp Can we license the UCAN rights for ILX TV?
― begrudgingly bound by duty of candor (morrisp), Thursday, 21 April 2022 19:57 (one year ago) link
Could be. Have to get back to you.
― Wile E. Kinbote (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 April 2022 19:59 (one year ago) link
God. Haven't watched the restored live show but like a fool I decided I'd listen to the album while I did some work this afternoon, now I have a great ball of grief welled up in my chest, what a fantastic record and so emotionally complex.
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 25 April 2022 05:41 (one year ago) link
Criterion Channel's got the remastered concert film streaming now.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 3 October 2022 18:49 (one year ago) link
Cale hair in classic form.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 3 October 2022 19:38 (one year ago) link
I love this line from Dave Connolly’s AMG review of words for the dying:Perhaps Cale's own unusual hairstyle (which resembles a book of carpet samples more than anything) led him to re-evaluate the impact of an actress who could dance with ten pounds of fruit on her head.
― brimstead, Tuesday, 4 October 2022 02:58 (one year ago) link
might be my favourite reed, favourite cale
i had no idea it was considered "lost", i had on (terribly recorded) videotape for years
― mark s, Sunday, 9 October 2022 19:18 (one year ago) link
"but I have some resentments that can never be unmade"
vmic
― mark s, Sunday, 9 October 2022 19:47 (one year ago) link
Loved this v much.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 11 October 2022 08:40 (one year ago) link
All the more moving for Lou’s unwillingness to emote. But “A Dream” just kills me every time.
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 11 October 2022 08:55 (one year ago) link
This is an interview with Lachmsn btw.
https://theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/apr/14/they-didnt-go-round-the-corner-for-beer-lou-reed-and-john-cales-songs-for-drella
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 11 October 2022 09:01 (one year ago) link
*Lachman
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 11 October 2022 09:02 (one year ago) link
lol @ at that url
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 October 2022 13:36 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/NbbJuZB.jpg
― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 26 October 2022 00:02 (one year ago) link
It's like one guy has hair where the other needs it, and vice-versa
― Reese's Pisces Iscariot (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 October 2022 00:21 (one year ago) link
My Songs For Drella statement has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my Songs For Drella statement. pic.twitter.com/qZkO5LXhIW— Andrew Male (@Andr6wMale) November 6, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:46 (one year ago) link
classic drella tbh, coaxing two highly stormy ppl into the same art space to see what trasnpires
the factory was a drama factory, it's all good fun until some loses a lung
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:51 (one year ago) link
Now reminded somehow of The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) and thinking they should have worked that into Patriot somehow. #onethread
― (We're Not) The Experimental Jet Set (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 7 November 2022 12:07 (one year ago) link