Tag Archives: lou reed

#1411: The Killers – Tranquilize

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Now, if I remember correctly, the video for The Killers’ ‘Tranquilize’ was initially available on NME’s website as an exclusive. A little research goes to show I’m right on this. This was the new song / single to promote the band’s Sawdust compilation, a collection of B-sides, covers and rarities made during the sessions for Sam’s Town. But when I went to watch it, the video’s quality was quite shitty. I don’t think I made it past the first few seconds of the song either. The XP computer we had back in those days was on its last circuits. It definitely wasn’t too long after that the video was making its rounds on MTV2 however, in good CRT TV-screen quality. ‘Tranquilize’ features Lou Reed. For a long time, I thought he only sung the ending section of the song and Brandon Flowers was somehow putting on a pretty good old man voice for the most part. Reed’s not lip-syncing his parts in the video, except for the ending, and Flowers was – both his and Reed’s vocals usually. So that’s how I saw the song when I was 12. Turns out, from the second verse on, Reed is always there. Their voices blend very well together.

In the back of my mind, I’ve felt that there’s something really strange about ‘Tranquilize’ that shouldn’t work. I think it’s just the fact it was a single. Out of all the singles The Killers had released up to that point, ‘Tranquilize’ was definitely the strangest one. I do think it might just be one of their best songs. But it wouldn’t get people up on their feet like a Hot Fuss number or ‘When You Were Young’. ‘Tranquilize’ is a little spooky and sinister. The droning synths at the beginning sets, leading into the thick bass line by Mark Stoermer. You’ve got those ghost kids singing alongside Reed after the first chorus. There’s that rising progression during those “Got this feeling…” sections that are a rush, uh, giving a feeling… that something bad’s about to happen, as Flowers sings during those parts. But then those give way to the lighter, “string”-led choruses where he and Reed sing in unison. And then just when you feel we’re getting deeper and deeper into the dread as the song nears its end, Reed comes in for the optimistic, stand-up-and-hand-on-heart ending to end things on a hopeful note. Takes you in different directions, this song.

The problem is, I can’t pinpoint what ‘Tranquilize’ is about. There’s something of a love song within. There’s something of a political commentary. Got some religious imagery, paranoia, scenes of haunted playgrounds. A real mixture going on. Maybe that’s what it is, a love story in the midst of a turbulent society. All I know is, this track comes from a time when less effects were being put on Brandon Flowers’s voice. There’s pitch correction all over Hot Fuss. And I think the songs made in the Sam’s Town times only prevail from this change. His natural voice had much more character. He sounded more expressive, and ‘Tranquilize’ was another gem that show his vocals off during that period. The fact that Lou Reed’s also singing alongside him is an added bonus. From what I can find, they don’t seem to have ever performed it live together before Reed’s passing in 2013. It’s a shame. Flowers sings it all in the live videos I see, and there’s definitely something missing. It’s the collaboration that makes ‘Tranquilize’ what it is. I’m glad it exists.

#1239: Gorillaz ft. Lou Reed – Some Kind of Nature

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Plastic Beach, Plastic Beach. In my eyes, still the last really great Gorillaz album. It’ll be 15 years old in just under two weeks. I guess it does feel that way. But I can also remember downloading the album a few days before it was officially released in the UK and listening through the whole thing like it was last week. Wikipedia says that it was released internationally on the 3rd March 2010, but that’s wrong because albums were released on Mondays and that date was a Wednesday. I “got” it on the 5th, the album was released in the UK on the 8th. Though I guess the Wikipedia date was when it was released in Japan or something. That place usually got the early release dates, the lucky people. But that explains why it was so easy to find a high-quality version of it online so I could nab it for myself.

‘Some Kind of Nature’ is the ninth song on the album. There’s a range of guest features on the LP to say the least, and ‘Nature’ wasn’t left out in this regard as alongside Damon Albarn on vocals appeared Velvet Underground man and general top singer-songwriter person Lou Reed. He provides some additional guitar as well. Albarn tells the story about working with Reed in this little video here. You might as well watch the whole thing if you’re a fan. But the meat of it is, Albarn sent Reed three songs to work on. Reed rejected them all. On the fourth attempt, Reed accepted with a vague idea. Albarn flew to New York to meet, but then Reed left the studio to go somewhere else and wrote all his thoughts about plastic in a taxi. He came back, showed Albarn his work, did the vocals in one take. And what you hear was the result. But it’s better to hear the person who experienced it actually tell the story, so go ahead and click on that link.

I can’t remember whether this one was an instant like on that first hearing. But just a week or so after I downloaded the album, ‘Some Kind…’ got its own little music video which I guess let me become accustomed to the song very quickly. The whole track runs at a very chill tempo, led by Reed’s very straight, robotic-like vocals which make a great contrast for Albarn’s richer, melodic voice when he comes in later. I also like singing along to the synth that arrives around 25 seconds in. Makes for a good melodic centrepoint underneath Reed’s recited delivery. The lyrics you’ll find online vary from place to place, but whichever site has the line “All we are is stars” as the last line of the chorus is the correct one. It doesn’t make grammatical sense, but then again, a lot of songs don’t. Only got two more songs left to write about from Plastic Beach, and they both begin with ‘S’. So they’ll be coming around relatively soon. Any guesses as to what they are can be left in the comments.

#1155: Lou Reed – Satellite of Love

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I have a big, big feeling that Lou Reed’s ‘Satellite of Love’ was a song that had an immediate impact on that first listen back in…. I want to say 2012. Was going through that ‘Best Ever Albums’ list on besteveralbums.com that I’ve sometimes talked about in other posts, and its parent album Transformer was on there at a decently ranked position. It’s got ‘Perfect Day’ on there. That’s a good one. ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ is a classic (though not one I go to, myself). But ‘Satellite of Love’ drew me in for sure. It begins with the piano, Lou Reed sings a succinct melody followed by that bass run and piano line. That’s all in the first 10 seconds. It’s catchy stuff, and it all carries on from there.

Influenced by the space race, the moon landing and lunar activities in the late ’60s, Reed wrote the track in 1970 when with The Velvet Underground and did a demo with the group during sessions for the band’s Loaded album. It didn’t make it on there. But two years later, with the aid of David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the track underwent changes to give it an air of wonder, flamboyance and slight campness and turned it into a glam rock number. There’s quite the all-star ensemble behind the performance with Reed singing and on guitar and Bowie on backing vocals, Ronson on piano and recorder, Beatles mate Klaus Voorman on the bass guitar and John Halsey AKA Barry Wom of The Rutles on drums. They all very much kill it in each of their respective positions.

As much as I do enjoy the main core of the song, particularly the contrast between Reed’s dry vocal with those bright “bom-bom-bom”‘s during the choruses, a huge part of my appreciation for the whole track goes towards its ending. With about a minute and 10 seconds left, the track builds layer and layer, starting with Ronson’s piano, followed by Reed and the sassy backing vocals by the vocal group Thunderthighs. And then to cap it all off, David Bowie comes in with a piercing falsetto to leave the track fading out on this massive bed of harmonies and countermelodies. It’s a shame that Bowie and Reed didn’t collaborate more after this and Transformer. Think I remember that they a falling out of some kind? They strike me as two people who would want to do their own respective things anyway. They performed live with one another in the end, so whatever beef they had was clearly squashed.

#1028: Lou Reed – Perfect Day

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So before I knew that ‘Perfect Day’ was a Lou Reed song, I had only heard of it through one of those count down TV programs where celebrities were talking about a certain types of singles from the 1990s. ‘Perfect Day’ was chosen to be the single to represent the BBC Children in Need charity in 1997. It was a cover, and almost each line was sung by a different artist, from Elton John to Dr. John to Boyzone and countless others. I can’t remember what the exact category for that count down program was. But I only remember there was one guy who got a kick out of how Shane MacGowan sang the “It’s such fun” lyric with the most miserable look on his face. I’ll embed the video for it below. You’ll either think it’s all right or straight-up terrible.

Years later I’d find the original through listening to Lou Reed’s 1972 album Transformer, and hell yes this track is one of the best on there. Reed’s all quiet and up close to the microphone during the verses before the track opens up immensely into a grandiose chorus, backed by a glorious string arrangement courtesy of glam rock legend Mick Ronson. The track itself is about thoroughly appreciating the time spent with a loved one, doing things that relationship-people do like going to the movies and drinking in the park. Other activities are mentioned. And overall having a huge boost in mental health, feeling like a good person, rather than the sad, unstable person they would be when left alone for too long.

You see, I like that interpretation of the song. I think Lou Reed means just what he sings here. But a lot of people think it’s about really liking heroin. Then Trainspotting came out in the ’90s and everyone started to agree more that that’s what the song is really about. There’s no reason there couldn’t be a double meaning there. Plus, it wasn’t as if Lou Reed hadn’t covered that topic in another very, very popular song of his. But I truly think it’s as sincere as it gets here. The overall sentiment alongside the almost dramatic nature of the music, well, it’s almost enough to bring anyone to tears.