Lou Reed’s Berlin
Lou Reed in 2010.
The music world has paid tribute to singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed, who died on Sunday aged 71.
To many fans, Lou Reed represents the dark and dangerous side of the Lower East Side in New York. But in 1973, Lou Reed recorded an album that moved the doom and gloom to East and West Berlin. At the time of its recording, Lou Reed had never been to Germany.
The World's Patrick Cox talks to host Aaron Schachter about why and how the rocker used Berlin as a metaphor to tell his story.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.