Final Word from Monday, November 16, 2009
Freedom was the recurring theme at Václav Havel's lovely concert in Prague on Sat. in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. There was no mistaking the vague political message of Joan Baez's rendition of "We Shall Overcome," but what in the word was Lou Reed trying to say? His opening tune, "I'm Waiting for the Man," could be understood as an allegory for the arrival of Havel two decades ago to save the day, until one recalls that it's about a drug addict waiting for his dealer. His second tune, "Dirty Boulevard," is about the ugly underbelly of freedom: "Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor, I'll piss on them." Even Lou's "Perfect Day," made more perfect by the incomparable Renée Fleming, is about suppressing our darker side. If Lou Reed had a message, perhaps this was it: We have only ourselves to blame if we allow freedom, once gained, to be taken away from us.[Czech Republic Nov. 17, 1989]
Glossary of difficult words
reap what you sow - a line from Lou Reed's "Perfect Day"; you eventually have to face the consequences of your actions;
to reap - to cut or gather (a crop or harvest);
to sow - to plant (seed) by scattering it on or in the earth;
recurring - repeating, repeated;
rendition - performance or interpretation;
to save the day - to find or provide a solution to a difficulty or disaster;
underbelly - a hidden unpleasant or criminal part of society.