Anyone who DJ'd back when it meant just playing records, invariably caught themselves between gigs and just short of money enough to agree to DJing at a wedding reception or two. I did it myself, about a dozen times. There were some couples, notably the music freaks, that would have playlists of stuff they wanted played. Others might give you a general idea of stuff they like. And there would be others that didn't even give it any thought whatsoever. One thing that was surprising is how many couples didn't think about their "first dance" record until the last minute. For an unprepared DJ this meant thinking fast on your feet.
One thing I learned after DJing a few weddings is to always have Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" on hand. For any couple that didn't have a preselected song, it was the go-to first dance selection. It's a beautiful song, and transcends generations and genres. It's short, slow, and it keeps building as it goes. By the time it starts fading, with Reed repeating the line "You're gonna reap just what you sow," there was rarely a dry eye in the house. Yes, it's sappy, but that's part of it's appeal. And, honestly, if a Transformer era Lou Reed didn't care about being sappy, should a wedding DJ?
Here's the version as released on Transformer, and the acoustic demo. The demo is nice to hear, because it's just Reed and guitar, without the orchestration. Imagining Reed having just written it with a particular person in mind somehow makes it a little more intimate. If you know the originally released version, you should give the demo a listen anyway. Even if you haven't drank sangria in the park, or fed the animals at the zoo, hopefully you've had a perfect day of some sort with a sweety. I have. This one's for her.
Here's the version as released on Transformer, and the acoustic demo. The demo is nice to hear, because it's just Reed and guitar, without the orchestration. Imagining Reed having just written it with a particular person in mind somehow makes it a little more intimate. If you know the originally released version, you should give the demo a listen anyway. Even if you haven't drank sangria in the park, or fed the animals at the zoo, hopefully you've had a perfect day of some sort with a sweety. I have. This one's for her.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Lou Reed - Perfect Day mp3 at Dad's Records
Lou Reed - Perfect Day (acoustic demo) mp3 (via Box.net) at Les Enfants Terribles
Video:
Lou Reed and others - Perfect Day (BBC promo) video at YouTube With, among others, Bono, David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Elton John, Burning Spear, Emmylou Harris,Tammy Wynette, Shane McGowan, Dr John, Evan Dando, Laurie Anderson and Tom Jones. (Sorry, no Link Wray.)
Lou Reed - Perfect Day (live, 1998) video at YouTube
2 comments:
Played at my wedding by your suggestion and in honor of you. So thanks for that.
But isn't it really about Lou and heroin?
Thanks for post of acoustic demo - at the end they play an RCA Radio Promo for "Transformer" "in the midst of all the make believe madness, mock depravity and pseudo sexual anarchists, Lou Reed is the real thing." at 3:55.
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