Lou Reed’s “The Blue Mask”: Another Listen

Lou Reed biographies such as The King of New York by Will Hermes, Lou Reed:  A Life by Anthony DeCurtis, and Lou Reed – The Life by Mick Wall tell eye-popping accounts of Reed’s drug abuse, his parents forcing him to get electroshock treatments, his adventures with the Warhol Factory crowd and teaching Jonathan Richman how to make a guitar sound like a percussion instrument.  This review, however, focuses on an often-overlooked Reed recording called The Blue Mask.

Released in 1982, The Blue Mask features many of Reed’s strongest songs. That’s quite an achievement, considering his innovative work with The Velvet Underground and the David Bowie-produced album Transformer. Bob Dylan has been quoted as saying, “Reed has never made a bad record.”  Reed and Dylan shared a love of Doc Pomus’s songs. Reed learned a sense of atmosphere from Pomus, and the results are evident on this album.

The Blue Mask starts with the gentle, “My House.”  He sings, “I really got a lucky life, My writing, my motorcycle, and my wife.”  There’s a loose biographical storyline connecting all the songs on the album. “My House” introduces Reed’s present domestic life, goes back to his youth, and then his married life. Along the way, the songs touch on Reed’s battles with addiction, alcoholism, and his modern-day angst. It’s far from a concept album, but the songs work together both separately and as a unit. “My House” is the longest song on the album and a fine introduction.

The next song is “Women.”  He recalls his immature youth and his attraction to women in magazines. “I know it’s sexist, but I was in my teens.”  This quiet tune has a strange charm about it and would have made Pomus proud.

Finishing side one is “The Blue Mask,” which is reminiscent of The Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat” period. “The Blue Mask,” however, is more focused than VU’s early chaotic recordings, but is just as brutal and disturbing.

“They tied his arms behind his back
To teach him how to swim
They put blood in his coffee
And milk in his gin”

Side two begins with “Average Guy.”   Although Reed is seldom described as humorous, this song has some funny lines. He sings, “Average in everything I do, My temperature is 98.2.”  The song pokes fun at his ordinariness.

The penultimate song, “The Day John Kennedy Died,” is a moving remembrance of the tragic events of November 1963. Like every American alive at the time, Reed recalls exactly what he was doing and where he was when he heard the news of JFK’s assassination. He recalls being in a bar in upstate New York and the guy who shouted the news of the shooting. His poignant lyrics brilliantly capture the emotional aftermath:

“I dreamed I was the president of these United States
I dreamed I was young and smart, and it was not a waste
I dreamed that there was a point to life and to the human race
I dreamed that I could somehow comprehend that someone
shot him in the face”

Concluding The Blue Mask is “Heavenly Arms.”  Reed said, soon after the album’s release, that he intentionally linked the last two songs, creating a death and life juxtaposition. Reed sings “The Day John Kennedy Died” in a mournful monotone; with “Heavenly Arms,” Reed’s singing is filled with emotion.

Even though he doesn’t have the vocal power of Domingo, Pavarotti, or Carreras, he delivers the lines “Lovers stand warned of the world’s impending storm, Heavenly arms reach out to me” with virtuoso intensity. The operatic conclusion ends with Reed singing out, “Sylvia.”  He sings her name four times, and he never sounded better.

-Vincent Maganzini

Photo: Getty Images