Like so many people I felt that Lou Reed’s recent death was a great loss and one which seemed even more perceptible with each passing day. I think that I was more into the Velvet Underground than Lou Reed’s solo work – but this is nothing to do with the quality of his solo work, which is great – it’s just that there’s sometimes a limit to what there is time to listen to.
The track that I have always loved most of the Velvets is ‚Foggy Notion‘ – but I don’t know why … and this is perhaps the answer … it’s precisely the fact that I can’t say why I love it so much that explains why I love it. I can’t readily point to the emotion that it excites in me; I can’t say even what the song is about – because I have never really listened closely to the lyrics. What I can say is that when I listen to the song I get a sense of carefree playing and singing – almost as though the song were being made up on the spot (and who knows (or cares) if it was?) … there are references to calamine lotion – which is something that is very familiar … though I don’t really know what it is for … some references to Sally Mae and (I realise as I write this) some references to hitting her ‚harder harder harder‘ – Ooh dear … nothing sinister I hope … but where the narrative is going I don’t know. There are countless other songs by Lou Reed / the Velvets that are probably more memorable – or even ‚better‘ but sometimes you just need a song that you can’t get a handle on – one that remains chimerically foggy.