Apr 102014
Yesterday, on the eve of KISS‘ induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, I learned that Lou Reed cowrote a song for the band’s Bob Ezrin-produced concept album, The Elder. Certainly, upon the completion of this recording, Lou must have remarked that KISS and his Berlin producer captured his music the way it was meant to sound!
Power ballads — whatever happened to good ol’ power ballads? I would like to think they went away because most of them suck.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum would suggest saying nothing about this but…
What would the world’s biggest Lou Reed fan hope for – that he wrote that turgid melody or these cringe-inducing lyrics?
A world without heroes
Is like a world without sun
You can’t look up to anyone
Without heroes
And a world without heroes
Is like a never ending race
Is like a time without a place
A pointless thing devoid of grace
Where you don’t know what you’re after
Or if something’s after you
And you don’t know why you don’t know
In a world without heroes
In a world without dreams
Things are no more than they seem
And a world without heroes
Is like a bird without wings
Or a bell that never rings
Just a sad and useless thing
Where you don’t know what you’re after
Or if something’s after you
And you don’t know why you don’t know
In a world without heroes
There’s nothing to be
It’s no place for me
I wonder if the high school literary magazine from whence these lyrics had to have been stolen ever received compensation?
I would bet that this batch of lyrics were Reed:
“And a world without heroes
Is like a never ending race
Is like a time without a place
A pointless thing devoid of grace”
“And a world without heroes
Is like a bird without wings
Or a bell that never rings
Just a sad and useless thing”