William I. Lengeman III has a well written piece about Lou Reed and the song “Sweet Jane”, over at Crawdaddy entitled, “Standing on the Corner Studying Rules of Verse: A Visit With Sweet Jane”. Lengeman offers some lyrical analysis of said song.
Like so many great rock ‘n’ roll songs, one (or at least this one, anyway) can never be sure exactly what “Sweet Jane” is about. This much we know. There’s a guy standing on a corner and he’s holding a suitcase. Maybe it’s Lou Reed and maybe it’s not, but he’s obviously going somewhere or perhaps just getting back. What Jack the banker is doing in his corset or Jane the banker in her vest, one can only imagine. Given the fact that the song was hatched in the brain of the ‘60s-era Lou Reed, our imaginations are likely to fall short of reality.
When I first heard the opening line; “Standing on a corner, suitcase in my hand”, I was drawn in. It’s a simple line but a vivid image. It’s like the opening scene of a Hitchcock film. It makes you look. You know that this guy has a story and you watch to see what happens next.
“Sweet Jane” was the first song that I ever sang in a band. The version that I learned was from a live album, “Rock And Roll Animal”. Lengeman also discusses this album quite a bit, which is cool because, it isn’t the most well known record and I haven’t heard it in many years. Brought back some memories.
Good article, check it out.
Bill wrote,
Thanks for your comments. Glad you liked the article.
Link | January 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Pribek wrote,
Thanks for stopping by Bill. I’m looking forward to reading more of your stuff.
Link | January 17th, 2008 at 4:05 pm