How Did That Work Out For You?

Liz Phair “Hey Lou”

“Hey Lou” is a song about Lou Reed sung from the perspective of his wife Laurie Anderson, who mostly just seems exasperated by his sloppy and mean spirited behavior, and exhausted by having to look after him and deal with the social messes he makes. This all checks out with everything I’ve ever read about Reed – as well as my own brief professional experience with the man – so I think the actual bold move for Liz Phair in this song is singing from Anderson’s POV, as there are some assumptions about her which she might not think to be fair and she is still alive to hear this. But even if it’s an unfair portrayal of their real life relationship, the song isn’t necessarily about them so much as the idea of them, and they’re really just standing in as archetypes of a particular toxic relationship dynamic. This song makes me suspect we’re actually about to get the Liz Phair record I’ve been wanting for ages – the one that approaches the relationships of people in middle age or older with the same sharp critical eye that the younger Phair brought to dissecting the relationships of people in their 20s on Exile In Guyville and Whip-Smart. Fingers crossed.

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