Lombardo 1 Jake Lombardo 9 October 2013 ENG 200 Ms.

Olding Analysis Essay Glam Rock was about many things. As a new musical genre, it talked about three things above all: exploration of ones own self, exploration of drug use, and exploration of sexuality. The latter two are what Glam artist Lou Reed hit so well in his songs Perfect Day and Vicious. Reed writes about drugs and sex and the effect they have on himself as well as what the listener is supposed to feel, all pertaining to the Glam genre as a hole. Lou Reed became famous for himself when he released his album Transformer. This album was released in 1972, and Perfect Day and Vicious are two of the more famous tracks on it (Wikipedia). After leaving his band the Velvet Underground, Reed released Transformer as his second solo album. This time with the help of David Bowie and Mick Ronson as producers, this album became very famous and was a huge influence of glam rock (www.allmusic.com). With its lyrics talking so much about drugs and sex, two of Glam Rocks main themes, it is easy to see why Reed was such a critical Glam artist once Transformer was released. Reed displayed the characteristics of Glam perfectly in his music. In his song Perfect Day, for instance, the theme of his drug exploration is obvious. In this song, his use of drugs makes him have a great day which is apparently unattainable without the use of drugs. Drug use ends any of his problems and he can go through daily things while using the drugs such as

Lombardo 2 drinking sangria in the park (AZlyrics.com) or going to feed animals in the zoo (AZlyrics.com). As if though he needs to be high as a daily routine, the substance use keeps him hanging on (AZlyrics.com). For the day to be perfect however, he has to be using the drugs because its such fun (AZlyrics.com) and because he seems to depend on the drugs to be able to do anything. Through the use of these drugs, he even forgets who he is as though he wants to be someone else. Maybe he hates the fact that he uses drugs overall, but when he uses them he obviously feels great. He is alone with drugs in the entirety of the song, as if he has nothing in his life, or anyone to be with. He even says, pertaining to the drugs that he was glad I spent it (the day) with you (AZlyrics.com). His only happiness seems to be when he is high, as if he hates everything in his life, or has nothing else in his life. He has to turn to drugs for happiness, even though he knows that they are not good. This underlying theme goes into the last lyrics of the song, when he sings youre going to reap just what you sow (AZlyrics.com). I think that he hates the fact that he uses drugs, and he knows they are a negative thing, but they control his life and he cant get rid of them. The instrumentation also plays into the drug theme. The slow, calm melody gives a feeling of utter peace and happiness, a feeling probably felt by someone high on some kind of drug. When the chorus comes, it is a little louder and more energetic, as if the singer was at the height of his highness at those moments. The listener is supposed to feel that way also. Because of the constant calmness of the song, this is beautiful instrumentally, and the listener can almost also feel the effects of the drug. The way Reed sings also plays into this attempt to have the listener also feel drug effects. Like the instrumentation, he sings in a relaxed, calm, and somewhat soothing way. This is to further make the listener feel in a relaxed way, also as if on drugs. Then, also matching the

Lombardo 3 instruments perfectly, as Reed gets more energetic and loud at the chorus the listener is again forced to feel as if he or she too were high and at the height of highness during the chorus. With the mix of the lyrics, instrumentation, and the way Reed sings, Perfect Day is a perfect example of the theme of drug exploration in Glam Rock. In his song Vicious, Reed writes about the theme of sexual exploration. There are sexual connotations throughout this song, and even the word vicious itself can be used sexually. Being hit by a flower every hour (lyricsfreak.com) sounds as if he is engaging in sexual intercourse repeatedly throughout a day. Another sexual connotation is Reed hitting his partner with a stick. He sexually belongs to this woman, and he doesnt like it. Shes not good to him, and he wants to get away from her. He feels the need to run far away (lyricsfreak.com) when she is near. He knows that shes not the kind of person around I want to stay (lyricsfreak.com). He writes that she isnt a good thing in his life and that he wants her to be hurt, and he wants to hurt her. He wants to step on her hands and mangle her feet (lyricsfreak.com). But, he cannot get away from her because of this sexual hold that she has over him. Much like Perfect Day, he knows that she is bad for him, like the drugs were, but he is almost possessed by her, like how the drugs almost possessed him. The instrumentation of Vicious also plays into the sexual theme. The entirety of the song gives sexual sounds and has a sexual beat. The song gives a sexual feel the whole time, and the listener is definitely supposed to feel that way. Just like Perfect Day the instruments deliberately balance the lyrics this time though to make the sexual feeling real. To tie it all together in the song, the way Reed sings is also very sexual. Even though his lyrics talk about how he dislikes the woman in the song, his singing style definitely does not

Lombardo 4 reflect that. If one was to just read the lyrics, he or she would expect an angry sounding singer and voice, but instead it is the opposite. Reed sings in a style that is almost happy sounding, as if hes glad the woman is vicious towards him. His singing style of just the word vicious perfectly administrates this also. Instead of singing vicious in an angry or even sad way, he sings it in a way that makes it sound like he wants her to be even more vicious towards him. This is also a very sexual connotative way of singing. Just like in Perfect Day, the combination of lyrics, instrumentation, and singing style in Vicious makes it a song that is a great example of sexual exploration in Glam Rock. These two songs and Lou Reed as an individual artist had a great impact on the then new genre of Glam Rock. With his writing of things like drug exploration and sexual exploration, Reed solidified himself as a true Glam artist. He wore makeup and even on the cover of his Transformer album, had a typical Glam look with eye liner accentuated by his face being a cold white. So many of the Glam artists presented different people than who they really were when performing, and Lou Reed was no exception. I think this hiding of ones true self was based in the need to explore life as a whole. Exploring ones own self, especially through the Glam Rock ways like drug use and sexuality, was crucial to life.

Lombardo 5 Work Cited Unterberger, Richie. Allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Web. Accessed 3 October 2013. Unterberger, Richie. Lou Reed Biography. Www.wikipedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. 29 September 2013. Accessed 3 October 2013. Www.azlyrics.com. AZLyrics. Web. Accessed 3 October 2013. Www.lyricsfreak.com. LyricsFreak. Web. Accessed 3 October 2013.