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Rating:
After the masterpiece "New York" (1989), the good "Songs For Drella" (1991), the very distinctive "Magic and Loss" (1992), Lou Reed is preparing for a new work. A new work that doesn’t tell stories, doesn't talk about cities, doesn’t deal with experiments, but this time old Lou tells us about himself, his ideas, his love (indeed, the album is dedicated to his new partner Laurie Anderson, remember: that half-dazed violinist of the New Wave?).
The album opens with the very distorted "Egg Cream", which deals with Lou's childhood passion for eggnog; it continues with "NYC Man", perhaps one of the most beautiful songs on the album, in which the artist talks about himself; then come two rock songs, "Finish Line", a sweet-toned ballad, and the more nervous "Trade In". Here comes "Hang on to your emotions", an acoustic, romantic, and sweet ballad, featuring Laurie Anderson. Now it’s time for Lou to reveal his ideas, and he does so with the rage and aggression of "Sex with your parents": a long indictment against the Republicans, ps92, and all the American crap derived from these things. The album heads towards its conclusion: "Hooky Wooky" is a very danceable and amusing rock track, "The Proposition", "Adventurer", and the distorted "Riptide" continue along the line of the previous ballads, and lead with pleasure to the beautiful final chapter. "Set the Twilight Reeling" is a sweet Valentine’s note, obviously in Lou's style: the ballad starts acoustically, and so the ending begins, when a sudden electric guitar assault captures the attention and raises the tension, and with this power, the song heads towards the real conclusion, as does the album.
Finally, the album is very pleasant and unveils an unknown Lou Reed until now, the band backing him is great, as well as the arrangements which are marked by splendid bass lines, frequent use of acoustic guitars, and electric guitars that make themselves heard with their powerful distortions. A Lou Reed of this type, despite being unusual, knows how to give us great pleasures anyway.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Egg Cream (05:17)
When I was a young man, no bigger than this
a chocolate egg cream was not to be missed
Some U Bet's Chocolate Syrup, seltzer water mixed with milk
you stir it up into a heady fro, tasted just like silk
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
Now you can go to Junior's, Dave's on Canal Street
and I think there's Ken's in Boston
there must be something in L.A.
But Becky's on Kings Highway, was the egg cream of choice
and if you don't believe me, go ask any of the boys
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
The only good thing I have to say about P.S. 92
was the egg cream served at Becky's, it was a fearsome brew
For 50 cents you got a shot, choco bubbles up your nose
that made it easier to deal with knife fights
and kids pissing in the street
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
So the next time you're in Brooklyn, please say hello for me
at Totonno's for Pizza and ice cream at Al and Shirley's
But mostly you go to Becky's, sit in a booth and say hello
and have two chocolate egg cream, one to stay and one to go
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream, ah
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
10 Riptide (07:47)
She's out of her mind
like the wind in the storm
Oh, like the ocean in the dawn
as it disappears, with the riptide
She's out of her mind
she's pulled away by the moon
She's ripped from her sleep
as the cold luna sweep gains control
Ooohhh, what you gonna do with your emotions
Ah, ones you barely recognize
In your sleep I heard your screaming, ooohhh
"This is not voluntary! This is not voluntary!
If this is life I'd rather die!"
In the riptide, in the riptide
She's out of her mind, riptide
like a muscle that swells
You know when you trip
whether you're well or sick, your body aches
She's out with the tide
gone to a prisoner's dance
Where a monkey's her date
eating limbs off a plate with a spoon
Ooohhh, what you gonna do with your emotions
said the seagull to the loon
What you gonna do with your emotions
She said "Please wake me up"
She said "Don't touch me now"
She said "I wish I was dead"
With the riptide
She's out of her mind
riptide, you always win
It happens over and over again
riptide
She's out of her mind
like a hurricane's rain
She does not stand a chance
at this luna dance, riptide
I was thinking of Van Gogh's last painting
the wheatfields and the crows
Is that perhaps what you've been feeling
When you see the ground
as you fall from the shy
As the floors disappears from beneath your feet riptide
She's going out of her mind
out with the tide
out of her mind
riptide
She's going out of her mind
with the riptide
She's going out of her mind
ah, riptide
11 Set the Twilight Reeling (05:03)
Take me for what I am
a star newly emerging
Long simmering explodes
inside the self is reeling
In the pocket of the heart, in the rushing of the blood
in the muscle of my sex, in the mindful mindless love
I accept the new found man
and set the twilight reeling
At 5 am the moon and the sun
sit set before my window
Light glances off the blue glass we set
right before the window
And you who accept, in your soul and your head
what was misunderstood, what was thought of with dread
a new self is born, the other self dead
I accept the new found man
and set the twilight reeling
A soul singer stands on the stage
the spotlight shows him sweating
He sinks to one knee, seems to cry
the horn are unrelenting
But as the drums beats he finds himself growing hard
in the microphone's face he sees her face growing large
and the swelling crescendo no longer retards
I accept the new found man and set the twilight reeling
As the twilight sunburst gleams
as the chromium moon it sets
As I lose all my regrets
and set the twilight reeling
I accept the new found man
and set the twilight reeling
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