I knew this would happen someday, but now that its here I find myself not ready for it at all.
There are times over the years I've gone through something hard - where my faith in the world has been severely tested and I've felt all alone. I got through those times 'cause I knew that Lou Reed had survived his own devastation and come out the other end. I've studied Lou's life in depth and have felt such kinship with him. He has been a light in the darkness for me. So many times I said to myself "if Lou Reed can survive what he's been through, I can make it through this".
I'll never forget the first time I heard the Velvet Underground. I was living at 708 Haight Street (a beautiful victorian which has since burned to the ground) and it was 1988. My boyfriend at the time, Mark, said I HAD to hear them and put "Foggy Notion" on his RECORD PLAYER - if you can believe that. I listened to that song over and over again for days. I became entranced by everything they had released, and played the Velvets constantly at work... really loud I might add.I had never heard anything like it... before or since. They are in a class all their own.
I've been remembering Lou Reed today as "Mr. New York" 'cause he was... he was Mr. New York. I was blown away when I visited New York for the first time and was able to check out where The Factory and The Velvets had taken residence in the late 60's. I walked Canal Street, The Bowery and the East Village listening to every Velvets album... seeing the streets they had walked and the signposts from various songs. Hahahah! I remember when I came upon Union Square and got the shivers.
A few years later I went on to form my own band, Bettie Black. Lou's style of songwriting informed our sound. Lou Reed is one of my core influences.
I took a look at Lou Reed's astrological chart today, and he was so watery!! A Pisces Water Horse - the sign of an intuitive thinker, poet, artist and revolutionary. People born in the Year of the Horse are notoriously independent minded and rebellious. I'm sure his Jupiter in Gemini and Virgo Moon bestowed his gifts of writing.... and that North Node in Virgo in the 6th House made sure he kept busy.
It's fitting to me that such a special soul as Lou Reed would leave this Earth between two eclipses, AND when the Moon is in Leo (sign of the performer)! And it's so close to Halloween - one of the highest points of creativity in our culture. A time when we can dress up, have fun and be someone else. A time when we communicate with the mighty spirits of the returning dead.
So burn a candle for Lou on Halloween. I will. I feel he is at peace.
