Here’s our review for the 2022 archival album Words & Music, May 1965 by Lou Reed.
Label: Light in the Attic
Release year: 2022
By now, I’m sure everyone’s heard the story.
Lou Reed (1942-2013), singer-songwriter and co-founder of The Velvet Underground, mailed himself his own demos sometime in May 1965 with a notarization form as an act of self-copyright.
With help from future bandmate John Cale, Reed recorded a demo tape and left it in that envelope sealed. Jumping forward 50 years later to 2022, past what would’ve been his 80th birthday, his estate released the tape as an album.
Words & Music features 10 songs (demos) along with an alternate demo version of “I’m Waiting For The Man.”
Reed opens up every song announcing its title followed by “words and music, Lou Reed” in his New York drawl.
The songs featured are early barebone-versions of American classics that would define Reed’s legacy but are noticeably incomplete. His vocal delivery is paired with Cale’s more unison, forward harmonies. While it’s nice to hear Cale on “Pale Blue Eyes” which The Velvet Underground released after his departure, Words & Music can be a bit awkward at times.
The album’s highlight is “Men of Good Fortune” which Reed released on his 1973 album Berlin although the version featured here is completely different lyrically and musically.
Unlike Berlin‘s version about wealth inequality and generational inheritance, the version on this album takes the perspective of a woman who is pressured into marrying young. Her concerns for finding the right groom are riddled with guilt toward her unapproving mother. It has the pacing and undertones of a Bob Dylan song and it’s a standout track.
Songs also take an unintentionally humorous turn whenever Reed attempts a falsetto or when his vocals misalign with Cale’s.
Listening to the album feels like you’ve invited Reed and Cale over to your house and you catch them rehearsing on your way to tell them dinner’s ready but don’t want to interrupt the spontaneous 30-minute jam session they’ve started while waiting. Owing to its close and personal intricacies, one can wonder if Reed ever intended for the public to hear this.
