Day After Day #23: Intro/Sweet Jane

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Intro/Sweet Jane (1974)

Lou Reed's been gone more than a decade now, but his presence still looms large. His years with the Velvet Underground were legendary (and I'm sure they'll be discussed here in more detail at a future date), but today's entry looks at the early years of solo Lou. In the fall of 1973, Reed had just released his album Berlin, a rock opera about a doomed couple struggling with drug addiction and abuse. The critics didn't get it and the album sold poorly, leaving Reed disillusioned. 

But he put together a killer band for his European tour in late '73, featuring lead guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, and they combined Reed's newer material with classic Velvet Underground songs. Rounded out by Prakash John on bass, Pentti Glan on drums and Ray Colcord on keyboards, the band delivered stirring performances and a big rock sound. The entire backing band (minus Colcord) ended up becoming Alice Cooper's band for a few albums, thanks to the Bob Ezrin connection (he produced Berlin and a bunch of Cooper albums).

Returning to the U.S., Reed's performance from Dec. 21, 1973 at the Academy of Music in New York City was recorded for the Rock 'n' Roll Animal album. The original version of the album consists of five songs, four of which were VU originals. A remastered version released in 2000 includes two more songs, and other songs played during the concert were released in 1975 on Lou Reed Live.

The RNR Animal version of "Sweet Jane" is very different from the VU original, which is a mellower yet still potent song on the 1970 album Loaded that's probably the band's most recognized song. After Reed left the band shortly before Loaded came out, he continued to play "Sweet Jane" in concert. Many bands have covered the song, most notably the Cowboy Junkies with a slower version.

But the arrangement on RNR Animal is a majestic rocker, especially with the extended intro that features Hunter and Wagner on twin lead guitar soloing while John's nimble bass runs underneath. The intro goes on for 3:30 before Reed comes out on stage and starts singing "Sweet Jane." The song, which runs in total nearly 8 minutes, became a staple of FM rock radio, especially if the DJ needed to run out for a smoke or bathroom break. 

There's plenty of debate about what "Sweet Jane" is actually about, but one interpretation is it's a younger person looking at an older couple derisively and then realizing they're not that different after all.

"And there's even some evil mothers/They'll tell you that life is just made out of dirt/And women never really faint/That villains always blink their eyes/And that children are the only ones who blush/And life is just to die. But everyone who ever had a heart/They wouldn't turn around and break it/Anyone who played a part/They wouldn't turn around and take it."

The rocked-up version of the song rubbed some people the wrong way, with an NME writer calling the album and Lou Reed Live "the ultimate insults, Reed wrecking the rare beauty and affirmation of his greatest songs by turning them into cliche ridden hack heavy metal mutations." To which I say: Lighten up, Francis. It's a different arrangement, for sure, but there's no denying it kicks the requisite amounts of ass while still being respectful to the songs. The entire RNR Animal album, to these ears, is one of the greatest live albums ever. 'Nuff said.