![\"Lou](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Lou-Reed-Musician-1997-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n
He may not have outwardly shown it in his personality, but buried beneath the stone-faced exterior, Lou Reed<\/a> was always something of a comedian.<\/p>\n Of course, comedy is a subjective thing, and I\u2019m certainly not going to suggest that he\u2019d have been able to hold his own doing a tight five stand-up set, but Reed had a sense of humour at the very least, which is more than can be said of many of his contemporaries. Not everything he did was meant to be taken as humorous, but within a lot of his songs were lines that possessed the ability to produce a wry smile, or even a chuckle if lucky.<\/p>\n For example, despite the song being about his close friend and collaborator Andy Warhol\u2019s attempted assassination<\/a> by radical feminist and SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas, \u2018Andy\u2019s Chest\u2019 is packed with punchlines that turn an otherwise grisly affair into a lighthearted romp. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not always whole songs that are amusing, though, and lines like \u201ctoo busy sucking on a ding-dong\u201d from the Velvet Underground\u2019s \u2018Sister Ray\u2019 are hardly meant to be taken seriously and show his mastery over a simple turn of phrase. Lulu, his collaborative swan song with Metallica, on the other hand, whether intentionally funny or not, manages to produce a laugh a minute on account of it being so ludicrously absurd in its concept and delivery.<\/p>\n However, sometimes it isn\u2019t as obvious to the listener when Reed is trying to be funny, and often, his interpretation of comedy can spill over into dark tragedy. The further you dive into his catalogue, the more this becomes apparent, and on his 1992 album, Magic and Loss, he was going all in on trying to create comedy out of a range of horrifying situations.<\/p>\n Around this period, he was dabbling more with spoken word and would often present his live shows as poetry recitals rather than as typical gigs. Speaking to Reflex around the time of the album\u2019s release, he explained how the show differed from his usual fare and how the record itself had plenty of his \u2018unique\u2019 brand of humour<\/a> scattered throughout.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guys aren\u2019t there: there\u2019s no band,\u201d he said, noting his change of approach to performing. \u201cOn the other hand, the humour in the lyrics is much more obvious, and some of the edge in the lyrics is also a lot more obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n He continued, talking more about how the lyrical content of Magic and Loss contained some material he was incredibly proud of, with one song in particular making him smirk even if nobody else found it funny. \u201cThere\u2019s a song called \u2018Harry\u2019s Circumcision\u2019, which you can take in a couple of ways,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the ways is that it\u2019s funny. I think I get classified in the black humour section, which I don\u2019t really think is true, myself.\u201d<\/p>\n The thing is, \u2018Harry\u2019s Circumcision\u2019 is one of the darkest songs in Reed\u2019s discography, and without wanting to spoil the twist for those who haven\u2019t heard it, it deals with subjects such as body dysmorphia and mutilation. For him to not quite understand why people wanted it to be labelled as \u2018black humour\u2019 is a little odd, because this is poetry taken straight from the gallows, and a product of the most depraved corners of Reed\u2019s mind. Its humour, on the other hand, is certainly arguable.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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