It is interesting that Lou Reed recognised Cohen to be one of the most influential poets and musicians of the late 20th century. I was very taken with Lou Reed in the days of 'Berlin' and retroactively, became very much a fan of the Velvet Underground. I think Lou Reed lost his edge long ago. I follow him on Facebook only because of some nostalgic urge but frankly feel that David Bowie endured the passage of time far better. I love Bowie in Ricky Gervais' 'Extras' for example. He appears to have a fundamental sense of humour that Lou Reed lacks, at least where his own iconography is concerned.
Mind you, listening to a live performance of 'Heroin' by Lou Reed, performed in 1974 in Paris, I remember all the reasons why I thought him one of the most brilliant popular performers of his time.
In the wee hours of the morning a day or two ago, I happened to watch the last hour of 'Barney's Version' again. Based on a story by Mordecai Richter, it is a very curious film that ends essentially with the protagonist in the throes of Alzheimer's disease. The main character is a bit of a prick, in all honesty and the onset of Alzheimer's actually humanises him a little... at least in my eyes. Be that as it may, his favourite song is 'I'm Your Man' which he requests from a local radio station on a daily basis, using a false name and equally bogus Canadian location.
It is a brilliant song, brilliant piece of tormented poetry... on the surface, it thrills but ultimately, it is the cri de coeur of a slightly masochistic male who wants to be everything to a woman but knows that, in reality, he can be very little of what she desires or needs. In that sense, it is the ultimate althem of the Romantic. From a woman's point of view, who is this man but every man whom we have outfited as a White Knight briefly and rather unsurprisingly found to be too weak to bear the weight of the armour or, once the armour has been stripped from him, has demonstrated that he is nothing more than some one who is not very satisfied with his true self... otherwise, why agree to the pretense?
In contemporary Western civilisation, we have created unhealthy and unrealistic expectations where relationships are concerned. Arranged marriages actually have more chance of success than the marriages we undertake in our blind arrogance, looking for everything in a partner but never feeling that we need to be anything more than what we bring to the table initially.
