Lou Reed: NYC Man As Middle-Aged Man

Rock n' roll is no country for middle-aged men. Nor is it a country for married men. But it's even worse if you're a middle-aged married man who recently gave up booze and pills and powders. Looking back on rock n' roll, it's been painfully obvious that the business is not kind to the newly settled-down and sober. The 99-cent bins are chock full of artists for whom responsibility translated into a weakening of their artistic hunger. Even Bob Dylan, who is seemingly capable of playing any role in his songs, proved that husband-and-father is the one role he cannot get a handle on (see Self Portrait). 

But what about Lou Reed? Lou turned 38 on March 2, 1980. That same year, he married Sylvia Morales and began attending AA meetings. His first album as a married man recovering from addiction was 1980's Growing Up In Public.

Naturally, many are turned off by the cover. There's Lou, wearing a V-neck sweater and looking wholly uncool. The music inside is mostly bombastic rock n' roll with fretless bass playing reminiscent of Paul Simon's Graceland. It's one of his more musically uninteresting albums. But that doesn't matter. Growing Up In Public is all about Lou's lyrics and voice, and both here are presented as nakedly as possible. The songs are half moral narrative and half unadulterated autobiography, which in turn makes for some of the most brutally honest material of his career. As Mikal Gilmore wrote in Rolling Stone, Growing Up In Public is "like a family scrapbook nobody wants to share." 

My Old Man

"And when he beat my mother

It made me so mad I could choke...

And can you believe what he said to me

He said, "Lou, act like a man!"

The lump in Lou's throat as he sings conveys a patricidal rage. But Lou, who for most of the 70s acted much like a child, proves he is a man, one who has the courage to admit that his addictions are stronger than he thought ("The Power of Positive Drinking") and that he is now aware of the seriousness of love.

Think It Over

"And we really must watch what we say

Because when you 

Ask for someone's heart

You must know that you're smart

Smart enough to care for it." 

Most singer-songwriters have a tough time being this honest. From Dylan to Haggard to Cohen to Oldham, most artists shroud their confessional songs in a thin veil of fiction. Not Lou. Growing Up In Public meant no bullshit and it marked a major artistic transition for Lou, which he would follow up with the incredible The Blue Mask and the less-renowned-but-equally-stunning Legendary Hearts. All three records are about loving his wife, settling down, and coming to grips with his addictions. These are by no means sexy topics, which is probably why they remain neglected by critics and Lou's record label (would somebody please reissue these, for chrissake?) Who the fuck wants to hear songs about marriage and responsibility? Lots of people. There are more married responsible couples out there than there are fucked-up single ones. Unlike Hollywood, Lou proves that one doesn't need to cheat on their partner to spice things up. Growing older with someone else and remaining faithful is interesting enough as is.