It isn't a glorification nor is it a condemnation it's simply a realistic description. The listener can take it as they wish. There also isn't a track on that album that is a "good" introduction. Each track is different, whichever track you hear first won't indicate what the next one is like. The best approach is listen to them in the order they appear as there is a vague narrative thread that runs through them.

@lipby

6 ай бұрын

Like William Burroughs, Lou Reed did a lot to make heroin romantic. In the 90s, I knew a girl whose boyfriend tossed a copy of Junky on the bed and said, "Read this is if you want to understand my life." He was a pretentious twat who got himself a lifelong drug addiction in an effort to be a cool hipster. One of the worst thing about the 60s counterculture was the way it glorified drugs to a mass audience--though I doubt Lou Reed knew he was speaking to a mass audience in 1967.

@daiorama3196

6 ай бұрын

It's a matter of record that Lou took inspiration from Burroughs and it's also a matter of record that Lou was barely talking to even a niche audience in '67. I guess that changed over time, but unlike the mass 60's hippy anti-establishment counterculture that preached and recommended I think it's fair to say Lou observed & described; beyond that leaving it up to the listener to find it romantic or abhorrent. So if he was part of that counterculture he was an outlier .

@t.c.bramblett617

Ай бұрын

@@lipby I don't do hard drugs and never have, and I still love Lou and Burroughs both. They both have a lot to say about life and the human condition if you want to hear it. But it's all a matter of taste I guess. I don't see either of them as glorifying it at all, but they dig deeper than the surface, and they are worth paying attention to.

The music of Heroin tells you something: do not use drugs ! It’s a powerful song. If you want something easier to listen to from the Velvet Underground, try Sunday Morning, or Oh Sweet Nuthin

@lipby

6 ай бұрын

I'm not sure this is a "just say no" song.

A good introduction to the Velvet Underground? I'm not sure there really is one, but for contrast, I'd suggest "Sunday Morning." If you want to hear Nico, she sings several songs on this first album, but she wasn't a member. Today, we'd call her a featured artist. I think "All Tomorrow's Parties" is Nico's best song on the album. I guess those two are the ones I'd suggest next.

Mr. REED IS NOT TELLING YOU YES OR NO. HE'S NOT A PREACHER. HE'S DESCRIBING A HUMAN CONDITION. YOU CAN EITHER LISTEN AND LEARN SOMETHING FROM HIS EXPERIENCE OR CONTINUE TO LIVE IN YOUR OWN SMALL JUDGEMENTAL WORLD.

@robertarnold9883

4 ай бұрын

No need to yell

Check out Lou Reed (the singer) performing "Walk on the Wild Side". It's a great classic song and much less hardcore.

Art AND a cry for help. but: 'I'm better off than dead'

Please react to George Harrison - Try Some Buy Some

You use "hip hop head" as something to be proud of?

@GaryWHarper

2 ай бұрын

It's where he is coming from. It flavors your perspective, your own past. Nothing wrong with hip hop, or any other genre. All we can do is grow, as we get older.

@mslauralew

2 ай бұрын

@@GaryWHarper He's an idiot who films himself listening to a 57 year old song. He has no idea who John Cale is. No fucking idea about The Factory. He's an idiot. "Look at me" "Look at me" "Look at me". A bona fide Lester Bangs. Pffft.

@mslauralew

2 ай бұрын

@@GaryWHarper He's an uneducated fool who films himself while listening to a 57 year old song. You never see any books in the backgrounds of reaction videos.

@mslauralew

2 ай бұрын

@@GaryWHarper You're a fan of idiots? Good for you.

@mslauralew

2 ай бұрын

@@GaryWHarper He's an idiot who has an Internet connection.