It's not a 'just' image, it's just an image.

and here's another one...

"She's prim, and prissy and prude and I HATE HER, I HATE HER..."

Both caps from Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse, my pick for Family Film of 1958, in case you were curious.

Apropos of nothing, boy, that pastor to Barack Obama sure is some trouble, isn't he? Also a bit of a ripoff artist—Malcolm X used that "chickens come home to roost" line almost 50 years ago, back when J.F.K. was assassinated. Of course Falwell and Robertson said much the same thing at the time (the time of 9/11, I mean!) only there were different roosts invoked. But anyway. Thinking about the Malcolm plagiarism put me in mind of...who else, Lou Reed, who in his notorious tune "I Wanna Be Black" yearned: "I wanna be like Malcolm X/and pass the hex/over President Kennedy's tomb" and a lot of other stuff I can't quote but which definitely falls under many people's definition of "lip-smackingly tasteless." Anyhow, thinking about Uncle Lou got me thinking about a song I'd like to dedicate to any number of people I had to spend much of my week dealing with, a tune called "Dirt," the definitive version of which appears on Reed's Street Hassle album. One of the most acute couplets of the song is: "You'd eat shit, and say it tasted good/If there was some money in it for you."

It would quite probably not be terribly prudent of me to describe the precise circumstances which brought this song to mind, but one thing any independent auditors of the piece might want to take note of is the precision of Mr. Reed's timing, which makes him, despite having nothing resembling a singing voice, one of the greatest rock vocalists ever, ever, ever. "Hey you remember that song by this guy from Texas whose name was.../Bobby Fuller?/I'll sing it for ya, it went like this:/I fought the law and the/the law won./I fought the law and the/the law won..." Man, you have to just hear it to get its immaculate fucked-upness, it's like a cross between Edgar Allan Poe and the pop/rock record reviews section of a circa 1977 issue of Stereo Review.

Anyway, there's no video of that on YouTube, damn it, but there is this, the by-now-over-ten-years-old BBC canonization of Lou's Transformer ballad "Perfect Day," in which Lou and the BBC's heavy friends try to turn the song into a paean to hetero rompage and end up making it even more gay than its original. Funsy!

I have to admit it took me a long time to figure out why this is a great song...back when I first bought Transformer, a couple of years after its 1972 release, I had zero idea about gay culture, and thus had no clue that the song was a sort of postlude to the apres-midi of a Manhattan homosexual. That cataloging of banal activities: "drink sangria in the park...feed the animals at the zoo..." etc., in that affectless drone. Then there's that great poison pill near the end: "You made me forget myself/I thought I was someone else/Someone good." That's something everybody can appreciate!

Comments

[bill]

How very cryptic and forboding. Is...is everything all right?

[Glenn Kenny]

No, everything's not all right, but I've added to the post. I don't wanna get too melodramatic but I'm good and p/o'ed right now. Sorry to cause any distress. I'm never going to walk away from you guys, promise.

[katherine]

how about some Bakers and a pint?

[cinetrix]

Some clever wag once observed wisely that the entire Lou Reed/Velvets oeuvre could be boiled down to variations on the phrase "all right," so it pains me to learn that it's not, albeit obliquely.

[Aaron Aradillas]

I'm also a big fan of Uncle Lou.

I do admit to be a little saddened by his induction speech at this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I was certain that Reed inducting Leonard Cohen would be a moment to remember. Alas, it wasn't. Reed seemed like he could hardly be bothered to quote some of Cohen's most memorable lyrics. It actually took me a few seconds before realizing Reed was quoting "The Future." You'd think Reed would've been a little more inventive and tried to do a little sing-song. It took Cohen's acceptance speech to make things right with the world.

Who would've thought the highlight would be Tom Hanks inducting the Dave Clark Five?

[bill]

Jeez, Glenn. I'm sorry things are so shitty right now, whatever the circumstances. If I post a comment on the internet when I'm angry, I'm usually needlessly rude to someone, so good job avoiding that.

But really...this post, as I first came across it, was very creepy. It was like the end of the first act of a very dark thriller, possibly European. Or Japanese.

[crazysummerswithbrigitte]

Monsieur K.,

Naturally we all hope this obscure situation is resolved with little pain. Except, of course, for anyone you want killed.

Equally naturally, as a good French person, I am both troubled and proud that you reached for "Bonjour Tristesse" in your hour of need.

And since I have to scroll past their comments to find something that interests me, may I say at long last that I do not give zee rat's ass what is going on in Zat Scene of No Country for Old Men. Zere, I have confessed it.

[summersnoww]

I expected a lamb,

[john]

I can find the prayer I want. I thank God for this website.

[Kathy]

Thanks for your project. I like this site. KEEP IT UP..F

[STOCKWELLJeffrey]

Hi

Siemens has outlined plans to establish itself as a leading provider of radiopharmaceuticals in India through the construction of numerous manufacturing facilities.
http://zoloft.vmdmed.infoBye
http://fioricet.vmdmed.infoBye

[hooka]

This is my first time visiting glennkenny.premiere.com and i must say i like it alot.
Your post was a good read.
I will definetly come back here more often!



hooka

[ivandiadser]

Hello


Bye

[jammarlibre]

I like it and the background and colors make it easy to read:

[Martearrofs]

Brilliant site for someone like me trying to learn more. Keep up the good work!

[Dan]

Excellent web site I will be visiting often

[sonybravia]

Hi ! Great page. Greetings from Poland.

[Martin]

I like it and the background and colors make it easy to read

[gfxeqc pjwsdkc]

rexjv menhuxr ajedcomh psjo klwfzs adnreoi fjyrmi

[4mg Medrol tablets]

mhjywua qnkh ibuzsvf

[Purchase Lincocin]

jgcm ridazw psflyix aekipc

[Purchase Etodolac 200mg tablets]

qusa xvqdt

[400mg Trental tablets]

pqbihr bspxqr

[zyvox generic]

zfeaid nwao

[klonopin depakote interaction]

lvjtgsm djkz xumny