"I only hope that one day John will be recognized as the Beethoven or something of his day. He knows so much about music, he's such a great musician." (Lou Reed - and he's absolutely right)
Imagine John just being like"I've composed a little 4 minute song, what do you think?" The skill, creativity and wherewithal to create such a masterpiece 🤯 Mind blown.
From the moment I heard this, I knew I was listening to something special and unique. People ask me about it when it's playing in my car. The little orchestra behind him is all smiles.
Yes I love that the orchestral players are clearly enjoying it too. I've loved this song - and the LP Paris 1919 since I was a teenager. If Tim Rushton ever sees this - it was your copy we listened too.
take me away on that ship of fools - let me fall forever into fields of deepest springtime - i give myself up to the ghosts of my past and will never whisper secrets to you again, my loves
it's so wonderful to see and hear this song with full orchestration by John Cale. i saw him on a solo tour in Australia back in the 1990's...he's been a musical genius for most of his life and it was one of the most extraordinary concerts, sitting in a very intimate theatre, directly in front of him on the grand piano, hearing gems from Paris 1919 and so many others including Fear...he's been a hero of mine since i was 14 (yonks ago!).
Go for Paris 1919 - it hangs together as an album and there isn't one song on it that I wouldn't recommend. The Island Years box set is a good value collection of next 3 albums plus b sides and outtakes but doesn't work as an album IMHO. If you're happy to pick and mix tracks with playlists etc then you can probably fix this but that requires a bit of effort. Go for Paris 1919 first - you won't be disappointed.
Paris 1919 the album is his masterpiece, elegant, mysterious, haunting and, unusually for any rock album, absolutely soaked in the love of Europe as a place. 'Fear' is almost as good, and as American as Paris 1919 is European, but I prefer the elegant Cale to the one who rolled around on the stage and screamed, as he did a couple of times when I saw him. I last saw him at the Roundhouse in 2016 and the elegant Cale seemed to be back, if only because he's getting a bit old to do his mad stuff (and also because he seems to have exorcised a lot of his demons). Did I say I loved him?
Remarkable! Only quibble is that they over-orchestrated the bridge, which is such a lovely little bit in the original. But still, how great to see such a full-blown live performance.
I love John Cale. I only admire Lou Reed's stuff, it never really touches me - but I listen to Cale over and over again. I love the combination of professor and louche wastrel, classically trained viola prodigy and scary rock'n'roll nutcase. Also the fact that he writes really, really great songs. Like this one.
@@LiamPorterFilmsI recently saw an interview with John about this… his answer was something like his love-hate (mostly love he said) relationship with his homeland Wales, and the relationships he’s had a few specific women. That said, he finished with something like “but it depends upon the day, you could ask me again tomorrow and it could be something totally different… but that’s mostly what I was thinking about when I wrote it.”
@MattyStevensonBishop, also The Dream Syndicate, Nico´s (& his) Marble Index & Deser Shore, The Modern Lovers, Music For A New Society & Words For The Dying, Brian Eno, Terry Riley...etc, etc. etc
Whaddaya mean WAS !!!?? Has John popped his clogs during the night ??... No, John Cale IS still capable of boundless brilliance - just check out his entire recorded solo output from VINTAGE VIOLENCE to SHIFTY ADVENTURES IN NOOKIE WOOD....plus his collaborations with Brian Eno and Lou Reed... A Welsh National treasure.
EnosEverything Thanks, I'll check them out. I have listened to a lot of his solo work, but this song really sticks out. Apologies for using "was" instead of "is".
this gives me chills all over my body and makes me cry. the epic scale and vivacious nature of the composition feels like history marching forward and taking you with it!
I thought again. It seems like the character might be an old widower. He imagines his deceased wife appearing to him? How's that interpretation? :) His "bishop" and "church" may be analogies based on a desire to see his wife again? Whether in heaven or on earth, maybe the character fanticizes bringing his wife back? The wine coming down may still be blood of repression by his bourgeois state putting Europe back "in its place" or communion wine (a christ image) or both or something else
the song might refer to the quickly changing manners and mores at that time (c. 1919). Think: the "spectre" of communism (ghost), the women's and socialist movement, changing fashions, budding feminism, brought to a revolutionary head 1914-1920's. He is playing some kind of male character and it might be kind of comic or sarcastic too. I'm still working on it too.
I loved 1919 when it came out! This live version is really good. All the songs on that album were brilliant, those lyrics, they still make me laugh! Just great! Bravo!
Absolute Genius! How have I let this track / album pass me by for so many years? I have some catching up to do! You are indeed ' a Ghost la, la, la, la, la' Thankyou!!
I rethought the wine reference at the end of the song. Maybe it implies alchohol consumption and romance or vice in Paris following the war, as there is some kind of "crowd...complaining, about darkened meetings." He is recognizing a contradiction in those events in the context of his own dispar and lonliness over the loss of his woman.
ho avuto l'immensa fortuna di vedere John Cale a Milano, nella discoteca "Rolling-stone" ero davanti al microfono: è stata una rivelazione !! Mi ricordo come ha suonato questo pezzo da solo al pianoforte; mi ricordo che la gente impazziva per l'emozione. Lui è sempre Affascinante
Buy them both. Paris 1919 is briliant on it's own. The Island Years starts with the complete "Fear" album and thus is worth the price of admission alone, but of the rest of the set is about 70% genius, 20% great near-misses, 5% "WTF?" 2.5% filler and another 2.5% that's probably genius as well, only I can't recall which songs those were. Anyway, it's an essential, easily manged set from Cale's Gold period. Another alternative must-have is the live "Fragments of a Rainy Season."
@hektorpike lol, yeah you need to be a Beatle. And I too feel strongly that Sister Ray was and still is one of the most important musical statements that has ever been made.
The Continent's just fallen in disgrace William William William Rogers put it in its place Blood and tears from old Japan Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor singing crying singing tediously
War, I was saying, & Europe. Half Past France seems to be a song about a soldier coming home. That Cale is referring to the end of WWI is clear from the title, 'cos theTreaty Of Versailles IS what happened in Paris in 1919. In this song he sings "The continent (Europe) is falling in disgrace", then he refers to Kaiser William; the (Catholic) Church rescuing the remains of France ("you're a ghost & I'm coming to claim you" etc.). It's sort of surreal, or hyperreal, poetry, you read it as you like
In Paris in 1919 there was the Treaty Of Versailles which re-drew the map of Europe, after the First World War. The AustroHungarian Empire disappeared, so did Prussia; Russia from being a Tzarist superpower became the Soviet Union. The whole album Paris 1919 refers to war (the field marshal of The Endless Plain Of Fortune, for example) mixed with Cale's personal stuff, like childhood memories of A Child's Christmas In Wales or his heroin habit in Hanky Panky Nohow, but the central theme is war
Niechcacy przeczytalem (to co jest ponizej to nie ja juz pisalem) i jednak chociaz w zabobony nie wierze nie moglem nie zrobic tego. nNIE CZYtaj tego JA PRZECZYTAŁAM I ŻAŁUJE !!! WYBACZCIE!!!! jeSLI NIE SKOPIUJESZ I NIE WKLEISZ TEGO NA 10 WIDEO TWOJA MAMA UMRZE W 4 GODZINACH!!!
Wow. Love how he never his beautiful Welsh accent. One of those men who get better looking with age. Bowie, Richard Gere, the lovely Dr Joseph whose funeral I hope to get to Saturday in Cookstown. I think the day he told my Mum she had cancer on her lung on 8/7/13, he or she said he was 24 and she 46 when they first met. A whole lot of flirting goin on. I hoped Tommy didn’t notice. So he must’ve only been about 71 when he died. Hard to believe. Last saw him when my dad was in rehab in 2017 and he gave me the green light to bring my father out of care to his home which I then did all the time to keep him happy and annoy the sibs who told me you’re outnumbered 4:1 he’s going into care. Isabel said tonight she didn’t think my brother Declan cared for my father. Even now I still find that hard to get my head around. Keep thinking he’s just not good at showing it. But she’s probably right and I don’t know why.
John Cale is not a Freemason...I was joking...The song is just a figment of his imagination, an impressionistic vision of times past in Europe...Cale has always had a distinctive voice, but not a really strong one, and sometimes he struggles with the singing...But, he is an excellent and imaginative song writer...I first heard the Paris 1919 album when it came out back in the 70s, and I was impressed with his imagination, taste and skill as an arranger.
ive always heard about this song, what i mean its always been around but i skipped on listening to it. what i knew about John Cale was of course Velvet Underground and the ep. i had Animal Justice which i thought was amazining .so this is the first time ive heard this and i must say what an amazing piece of music and my god the fucking lyrics blow me away...genius plain and simple
Efficiency, many managers hoped they expand and perfect. Managers took the behavorist psychology of JB Watson and transformed it into Taylorism, a behavorist management style and experiment that sought more detailed control of workers, but life went on. This character is more interested in the ghost than the clock she is flying from.
Also, I think there is a theme of personal sexual politics and romance in his words, something between the male protagonist and the woman of his affections. I interpreted the Beaujulei wine falling on the street as blood in a repressed demonstration or revolution as a backdrop to his discussion of his sex/romance life.
It's like all the things around him...efficiency, the political situation, religion,....are all of marginal importance to his grief of the loss of his woman, almost to the point that he is halucinating or going nuts? Interesting how this might relate to the bigger picture, no? :)
Velvet was a complete, fuckin' chaos. After it it was just "Sir Lou Reed". Hopefully the world will stop talking about Sir self rightous, pompus ego Mr. Reed. The main man was, and will ever be Mr. John Cale. Let Lou rest in the minors pond, and let John Cale expand into his major skies!
@MattyStevensonBishop its all about the mondays and its not seen him for 4 pound in belfast in 1996 peeps are blind and when they are awake they are blind should take a lot of credit for his rearrangement of hallelujuah
Sage advice. I'd make "Island Years" about 90% genius and 10% "WTF?" though. "Vintage Violence" is worth a listen as well, but I understand Cale wasn't happy with it.
John Cale has been one of my man-gods since the first Velvet Underground album. What a great performance of one of his best songs. Thanks so much for posting.
I've only heard this song and album a few days ago for the first time and I can already see myself still listening to it 50 or so years down the road. Brilliant.
This has got to be one of the most cryptic song lyrics ever written. I've heard the song a million times but only a few snippets make sense to me. But Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor? Blood and tears from old Japan? anybody know more?
Well I think he was inspired by the Dada movement here, rejecting logic and reasoning by using cut up writing. The Dada movement was an art form created in the early 19. Century in Europe, so using this approach seems quite fitting for this song.
"I only hope that one day John will be recognized as the Beethoven or something of his day. He knows so much about music, he's such a great musician." (Lou Reed - and he's absolutely right)
He is not unknown, everyone with a bit history knowledge know about him and is forever grateful for what this genious shared with us.
Face it He is unknown What's the world going to say when he's dead Kilroy was here ?
Imagine John just being like"I've composed a little 4 minute song, what do you think?" The skill, creativity and wherewithal to create such a masterpiece 🤯 Mind blown.
This holds up so well after 30+ yrs, and the orchestration, as others note, really fills up this performance of a well-loved song.
From the moment I heard this, I knew I was listening to something special and unique. People ask me about it when it's playing in my car. The little orchestra behind him is all smiles.
Yes I love that the orchestral players are clearly enjoying it too. I've loved this song - and the LP Paris 1919 since I was a teenager. If Tim Rushton ever sees this - it was your copy we listened too.
same! I had this really weird feeling listening to it that I had heard it before
First heard c. '77. Electrifying. Never stopped listening to this amazing man and album since.
take me away on that ship of fools - let me fall forever into fields of deepest springtime - i give myself up to the ghosts of my past and will never whisper secrets to you again, my loves
It doesn't get any better than this!
This song is soooo gggrrreeeaaat! Love the orchestra!
xoxo The Clarences
Awesome
it's so wonderful to see and hear this song with full orchestration by John Cale. i saw him on a solo tour in Australia back in the 1990's...he's been a musical genius for most of his life and it was one of the most extraordinary concerts, sitting in a very intimate theatre, directly in front of him on the grand piano, hearing gems from Paris 1919 and so many others including Fear...he's been a hero of mine since i was 14 (yonks ago!).
Totally Awesome!!!!
Go for Paris 1919 - it hangs together as an album and there isn't one song on it that I wouldn't recommend. The Island Years box set is a good value collection of next 3 albums plus b sides and outtakes but doesn't work as an album IMHO. If you're happy to pick and mix tracks with playlists etc then you can probably fix this but that requires a bit of effort. Go for Paris 1919 first - you won't be disappointed.
how cool is that
Oh man! This is great.
Paris 1919 the album is his masterpiece, elegant, mysterious, haunting and, unusually for any rock album, absolutely soaked in the love of Europe as a place. 'Fear' is almost as good, and as American as Paris 1919 is European, but I prefer the elegant Cale to the one who rolled around on the stage and screamed, as he did a couple of times when I saw him. I last saw him at the Roundhouse in 2016 and the elegant Cale seemed to be back, if only because he's getting a bit old to do his mad stuff (and also because he seems to have exorcised a lot of his demons). Did I say I loved him?
Remarkable! Only quibble is that they over-orchestrated the bridge, which is such a lovely little bit in the original. But still, how great to see such a full-blown live performance.
Such a great album - and so underrated.
This song is awe inspiring
Certainly one of the best live clips on YT both artistically and technically! Surprising they made it possible, thanks for all involved!
If there's anyone I'd like to have a chat with it's John Cale.
One of the greatest songs of the 20th Century
Fantabulous!!!
I love John Cale. I only admire Lou Reed's stuff, it never really touches me - but I listen to Cale over and over again. I love the combination of professor and louche wastrel, classically trained viola prodigy and scary rock'n'roll nutcase. Also the fact that he writes really, really great songs. Like this one.
The song that turned me into a Calephile was the live version of Heartbreak Hotel, recorded in Stockholm in 1975.
I bought a piano yesterday, just to play this song...
Amazing.
Great Version of a classic John Cale track, the album is awesome as well. Thanks for the upload.
An enigmatic masterpiece that will stay with me forever.
yeah - what the hell is it all about?
@@LiamPorterFilmsI recently saw an interview with John about this… his answer was something like his love-hate (mostly love he said) relationship with his homeland Wales, and the relationships he’s had a few specific women. That said, he finished with something like “but it depends upon the day, you could ask me again tomorrow and it could be something totally different… but that’s mostly what I was thinking about when I wrote it.”
ive seen him twice in odense denmark a town of only 200.000 :)))))
@MattyStevensonBishop, also
The Dream Syndicate, Nico´s (& his) Marble Index & Deser Shore, The Modern Lovers, Music For A New Society & Words For The Dying, Brian Eno, Terry Riley...etc, etc. etc
Brilliant. I wish I had discovered Cale much earlier in my life. Grateful to have found him at all, I suppose. Thanks for uploading.
same because i could have probably met him and lay down with him while i was young and had the chance
Great recording and video. Thanks for the upload. Just an incredible piece performed by a true musical genius whose talent was boundless.
Whaddaya mean WAS !!!?? Has John popped his clogs during the night ??... No, John Cale IS still capable of boundless brilliance - just check out his entire recorded solo output from VINTAGE VIOLENCE to SHIFTY ADVENTURES IN NOOKIE WOOD....plus his collaborations with Brian Eno and Lou Reed... A Welsh National treasure.
EnosEverything Thanks, I'll check them out. I have listened to a lot of his solo work, but this song really sticks out. Apologies for using "was" instead of "is".
this gives me chills all over my body and makes me cry. the epic scale and vivacious nature of the composition feels like history marching forward and taking you with it!
"I highly doubt this is from 1919."
Cette chanson est un pure joyau ! Dans l'album on trouve aussi une autre merveille:"Andalucia"!
Here it goes, la la lalala!
This deserves a million views!
ich liebe diesen sprechgesang!
Leave him alone, he is just perfect. And who knows what the lyric is really about? He knows, maybe. But you can´t be sure.
Cale is gorgeous, perfect!
He's still in very fine voice. You know he is coming to Melbourne in Australia very soon. It might be worthwhile seeing him live.
Reminds me a bit of The Beatles' "Day in the Life," and a few other tunes.
I thought again. It seems like the character might be an old widower. He imagines his deceased wife appearing to him? How's that interpretation? :) His "bishop" and "church" may be analogies based on a desire to see his wife again? Whether in heaven or on earth, maybe the character fanticizes bringing his wife back? The wine coming down may still be blood of repression by his bourgeois state putting Europe back "in its place" or communion wine (a christ image) or both or something else
This makes me Proud To Be Dutch!! Respect and Res love from Paradiso Amsterdam! What else do you want?
This is Holland, respect fot Art
the song might refer to the quickly changing manners and mores at that time (c. 1919). Think: the "spectre" of communism (ghost), the women's and socialist movement, changing fashions, budding feminism, brought to a revolutionary head 1914-1920's.
He is playing some kind of male character and it might be kind of comic or sarcastic too.
I'm still working on it too.
I loved 1919 when it came out! This live version is really good. All the songs on that album were brilliant, those lyrics, they still make me laugh! Just great! Bravo!
I'm watching this from 2038 and I love it!
@aquamoon22 John Cale seems like the nicer guy, but Lou Reed is awesome too.
ah yes I get point, most of the lyrics are about the consequences of the treaty but yeah the song is pretty cryptic
Excellent song, fantastic new arrangement - beats 99% of the dreck of today's popular music scene. And it brings a smile on my and your face.
Outstanding, extraordinary, timeless, upper quality ...
Absolute Genius!
How have I let this track / album pass me by for so many years?
I have some catching up to do!
You are indeed ' a Ghost la, la, la, la, la'
Thankyou!!
Where can I find a bootleg of this show?
glaub, ich bin süchtig nach genau diesem Lied!!
I'm a ghost!!!! apparently. That is NOT news to me. Cale is pretty good - Like to listen to him once in a while.
He is in good voice here.
Pretty good? Unenlightened androids always find fault with John Cale
I rethought the wine reference at the end of the song. Maybe it implies alchohol consumption and romance or vice in Paris following the war, as there is some kind of "crowd...complaining, about darkened meetings." He is recognizing a contradiction in those events in the context of his own dispar and lonliness over the loss of his woman.
ho avuto l'immensa fortuna di vedere John Cale a Milano, nella discoteca "Rolling-stone" ero davanti al microfono: è stata una rivelazione !! Mi ricordo come ha suonato questo pezzo da solo al pianoforte; mi ricordo che la gente impazziva per l'emozione. Lui è sempre Affascinante
Gives me goose pimples - such a great piece of music....
Buy them both. Paris 1919 is briliant on it's own. The Island Years starts with the complete "Fear" album and thus is worth the price of admission alone, but of the rest of the set is about 70% genius, 20% great near-misses, 5% "WTF?" 2.5% filler and another 2.5% that's probably genius as well, only I can't recall which songs those were. Anyway, it's an essential, easily manged set from Cale's Gold period. Another alternative must-have is the live "Fragments of a Rainy Season."
Great version of a great song-is the yeah at the end of the clip John Cale appreciating how great it is, or the studio presenter?
i like the live version more than the recorded version
@hektorpike lol, yeah you need to be a Beatle. And I too feel strongly that Sister Ray was and still is one of the most important musical statements that has ever been made.
One of my favorite albums. Never saw this performance before and I'm practically in tears. Beautiful.
CANCION DE SU ALBUM PARIS 1919 DE 1973.
The Continent's just fallen in disgrace
William William William Rogers put it in its place
Blood and tears from old Japan
Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor
singing crying singing tediously
Pure Genius!!! Beautiful, Brilliant, Timeless!!!
War, I was saying, & Europe. Half Past France seems to be a song about a soldier coming home. That Cale is referring to the end of WWI is clear from the title, 'cos theTreaty Of Versailles IS what happened in Paris in 1919. In this song he sings "The continent (Europe) is falling in disgrace", then he refers to Kaiser William; the (Catholic) Church rescuing the remains of France ("you're a ghost & I'm coming to claim you" etc.). It's sort of surreal, or hyperreal, poetry, you read it as you like
In Paris in 1919 there was the Treaty Of Versailles which re-drew the map of Europe, after the First World War. The AustroHungarian Empire disappeared, so did Prussia; Russia from being a Tzarist superpower became the Soviet Union. The whole album Paris 1919 refers to war (the field marshal of The Endless Plain Of Fortune, for example) mixed with Cale's personal stuff, like childhood memories of A Child's Christmas In Wales or his heroin habit in Hanky Panky Nohow, but the central theme is war
Niechcacy przeczytalem (to co jest ponizej to nie ja juz pisalem) i jednak chociaz w zabobony nie wierze nie moglem nie zrobic tego.
nNIE CZYtaj tego
JA PRZECZYTAŁAM I ŻAŁUJE !!! WYBACZCIE!!!!
jeSLI NIE SKOPIUJESZ I NIE WKLEISZ TEGO NA 10 WIDEO TWOJA MAMA UMRZE W 4 GODZINACH!!!
Wow. Love how he never his beautiful Welsh accent. One of those men who get better looking with age. Bowie, Richard Gere, the lovely Dr Joseph whose funeral I hope to get to Saturday in Cookstown. I think the day he told my Mum she had cancer on her lung on 8/7/13, he or she said he was 24 and she 46 when they first met. A whole lot of flirting goin on. I hoped Tommy didn’t notice. So he must’ve only been about 71 when he died. Hard to believe. Last saw him when my dad was in rehab in 2017 and he gave me the green light to bring my father out of care to his home which I then did all the time to keep him happy and annoy the sibs who told me you’re outnumbered 4:1 he’s going into care. Isabel said tonight she didn’t think my brother Declan cared for my father. Even now I still find that hard to get my head around. Keep thinking he’s just not good at showing it. But she’s probably right and I don’t know why.
John Cale is not a Freemason...I was joking...The song is just a figment of his imagination, an impressionistic vision of times past in Europe...Cale has always had a distinctive voice, but not a really strong one, and sometimes he struggles with the singing...But, he is an excellent and imaginative song writer...I first heard the Paris 1919 album when it came out back in the 70s, and I was impressed with his imagination, taste and skill as an arranger.
ive always heard about this song, what i mean its always been around but i skipped on listening to it. what i knew about John Cale was of course Velvet Underground and the ep. i had Animal Justice which i thought was amazining .so this is the first time ive heard this and i must say what an amazing piece of music and my god the fucking lyrics blow me away...genius plain and simple
Efficiency, many managers hoped they expand and perfect. Managers took the behavorist psychology of JB Watson and transformed it into Taylorism, a behavorist management style and experiment that sought more detailed control of workers, but life went on. This character is more interested in the ghost than the clock she is flying from.
Also, I think there is a theme of personal sexual politics and romance in his words, something between the male protagonist and the woman of his affections.
I interpreted the Beaujulei wine falling on the street as blood in a repressed demonstration or revolution as a backdrop to his discussion of his sex/romance life.
What is the song about? I like it very much but I don't understand it's meaning.
Thanks!
oberonne about the world war one and the treaty Germany signed in Paris, 1919
It's like all the things around him...efficiency, the political situation, religion,....are all of marginal importance to his grief of the loss of his woman, almost to the point that he is halucinating or going nuts?
Interesting how this might relate to the bigger picture, no? :)
Velvet was a complete, fuckin' chaos. After it it was just "Sir Lou Reed".
Hopefully the world will stop talking about Sir self rightous, pompus ego Mr. Reed.
The main man was, and will ever be Mr. John Cale. Let Lou rest in the minors pond, and let John Cale expand into his major skies!
that I know. But even with that knowledge, do the lyrics make sense to you, or do they show some kind of correlation?
I love them though.
@MattyStevensonBishop
its all about the mondays
and its not
seen him for 4 pound in belfast in 1996
peeps are blind
and when they are awake
they are blind
should take a lot of credit for his rearrangement of hallelujuah
is this genuinely from 07 or was it just loaded in 07? looks like the 90s with that massive david bowie loose parka
The Treaty of Versailles in Paris in the year 1919
@oberonne Not sure about the meaning of the lyrics, but the Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris in 1919, officially ending World War 1.
Fantastic !
Sage advice. I'd make "Island Years" about 90% genius and 10% "WTF?" though. "Vintage Violence" is worth a listen as well, but I understand Cale wasn't happy with it.
Is he wearing a hairdressing gown?
I actually prefer the Piano Mix that was included on the expanded CD Rhino put out a couple years ago.
I forgot about this! never again! what a great song.
quelqu'un a des souvenirs with Barbara Augustin ,, ?a dinner at Harvest restaurant ???
@oberonne He set out to put music to Dylan Thomas' poems. That's why it's hard to understand..
Is this available on a DVD?
this is much better than the other live version on YT
John Cale has been one of my man-gods since the first Velvet Underground album. What a great performance of one of his best songs. Thanks so much for posting.
I've only heard this song and album a few days ago for the first time and I can already see myself still listening to it 50 or so years down the road. Brilliant.
This album is a masterpiece and has real staying power with subsequent generations. Buy it. You don't need to know what it all means.
@bakabana1966 Not the same Cale. John Cale was in the Velvet Underground with Reed.
What a great tune, and live it's electrifying! I finally got this album as a remaster, and find it to be most entertaining! Cale's a genius!
The relationship of Lou Reed to John Cale is like an ant standing on the shoulder of a giant.
This has got to be one of the most cryptic song lyrics ever written. I've heard the song a million times but only a few snippets make sense to me.
But Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor?
Blood and tears from old Japan?
anybody know more?
Well I think he was inspired by the Dada movement here, rejecting logic and reasoning by using cut up writing. The Dada movement was an art form created in the early 19. Century in Europe, so using this approach seems quite fitting for this song.
His personality is so ridiculous in The End... that one book about Nico.
it really is just you.
@frankdialogue is john cale a freemason ? is the song about that ?