That jam-session in the place called Posterity has just gained a great new addition ...

Wonder what he, Jim Morrison & Nico will be working on first.

Undoubtedly a great performer, but also the Patron Saint of the F*cked Up.

"Heroin, be the death of me/Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life..."

I'm not sure we should be glamorising him, but that's probably because I never did quite make it to the wild side. But the accountant's son in him would probably sympathise with that.

He did well to make it to 70.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/may/19/artsfeatures.popandrock

Temperance wrote:

Undoubtedly a great performer, but also the Patron Saint of the F*cked Up.

"Heroin, be the death of me/Heroin, my life, my wife..."

 

Almost inevitable that this LR song would be used in Trainspotting

These lyrics do just about sum it all up - the bit about his wishing he'd been a sailor a thousand years ago always gets to me...


I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm goin' to try for the kingdom if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
Then I tell you things aren't quite the same

When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know

I have made big decision
I'm goin' to try to nullify my life
'Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death

You can't help me not you guys
All you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sailed the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
I put on a sailor's suit and cap

Away from the big city
Where a man cannot be free
Of all the evils in this town
And of himself and those around
Oh, and I guess I just don't know
Oh, and I guess I just don't know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I'm better off than dead

When the smack begins to flow
Then I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jims in this town
And everybody putting everybody else down
And all of the politicians makin' crazy sounds
All the dead bodies piled up in mounds, yeah

Wow, that heroin is in my blood
And the blood is in my head
Yeah, thank God that I'm good as dead
Ooohhh, thank your God that I'm not aware
And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know

One of life's little ironies is that Nico (mentioned in a previous post) - a heroin addict for about fifteen years - gave up the drug in the mid-80s: she began a rigorous regime of healthy eating and regular exercise. While out cycling it seems she suffered a heart attack, fell off her bike and sustained serious head injuries from which she later died.

Nico actually ended up in Salford, (Greater Manchester) during the 80s - she was very friendly with the poet, John Cooper Clarke.

Temperance wrote:

Undoubtedly a great performer, but also the Patron Saint of the F*cked Up.

"Heroin, be the death of me/Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life..."

Nah. He was only an amateur in that league - Yardbird was the real deal.

9.00pm tonight, BBC4 Lou Reed Remembered.

Deleted.