Lou Reed se ha ido, por Luis E. Ibáñez

“… el ruiseñor abandonado en la oscuridad culpable de melancolía y de preguntas sin respuesta, la altanería insobornable de quien se resucita y se larga mientras nos obliga a reconocernos, Romeo de Nueva York, poeta maldito de todos nuestros miedos y rincones inhabitables”

 

El músico estadounidense Lou Reed ha muerto este domingo a los 71 años.
La voz rajada, el susurro hecho canto, el camaleón que lee la ciudad y la explica, la mirada triste y lúcida envuelta en las noches de todos, la soberbia bondadosa como salvavidas de la individualidad imposible, el ruiseñor abandonado en la oscuridad culpable de melancolía y de preguntas sin respuesta, la altanería insobornable de quien se resucita y se larga mientras nos obliga a reconocernos, Romeo de Nueva York, poeta maldito de todos nuestros miedos y rincones inhabitables, niño limpio que mira el domingo y se postra ante él como si todo él fuera el Sol urgente y paliativo, el dios que nos devuelve a la tierra, nieto de Shakespeare y apátrida de los sentimientos, habitante de todos, y de todos lejano, ahí al lado, sin contestarnos, pero sin dejar de hablar con nosotros, sin mirarnos, pero ofreciendo la mano, la mano de la queja, la mano de la tristeza, la mano que se levanta y sigue el camino, la desfachatez del que se sabe solo y quiere no estarlo, y no sabe, o sabe mejor que nadie, como resolver su dilema, su conflicto, que es el de todos, el de nosotros, receptores y el de él, emisor obligado, de sus miedos, de sus dudas, de su muerte, y de su amor a la vida, esa mujercita incomprensible que a todos atrapa, como un fantasma que te ofrece conversación en la 48, cerca de Broadway, un fantasma que, mientras te asusta y te desnuda, te acoge en su seno. 

Adiós Lou, descansa en paz.
(Luis Enrique Ibáñez)

ROMEO AND JULIETTE



Caught between the twisted stars the plotted lines the faulty map
that brought Columbus to New York
Betwixt between the East and west he calls on her wearing a leather vest
the earth squeals and shudders to a halt

 

A diamond crucifix in his ear is used to help ward off the Fear
that he has left his soul in someone’s rented car
Inside his pants he hides a mop to clean the mess that he has dropped
into the life of lithesome Juliette Bell

And Romeo wanted Juliette
And Juliette wanted Romeo

Romeo Rodriguez squares his shoulders and curses Jesus
runs a comb through his black pony-tail
He’s thinking of his lonely room
the sink that by his bed gives off a stink

Then smells her perfume in his eyes
and her voice was like a bell
Outside the streets were steaming the crack dealers were dreaming
of an Uzi someone had just scored

I betcha I could hit that light with my one good arm behind my back
says little Joey Diaz
Brother give me another tote those downtown hoods are no damn good
those Italians need a lesson to be taught

This cop who died in Harlem you think they’d get the warnin’
I was dancing when his brains ran out on the street

And Romeo had Juliette
And Juliette had her Romeo

I’ll take Manhattan in a garbage bag with Latin written on it that says
“It’s hard to give a shit these days”
Manhattan’s sinking like a rock, into the filthy Hudson what a shock
they wrote a book about it, they said it was like ancient Rome

The perfume burned his eyes holding tightly to her thighs
and something flickered for a minute and then it vanished and was gone

SUNDAY MORNING, VELVET UNDERGROUND

LETRA:
Sunday morning, praise the dawning
It’s just a restless feeling by my side
Early dawning, sunday morning
It’s just the wasted years so close behind
Watch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at allSunday morning and I’m falling
I’ve got a feeling I don’t want to know
Early dawning, sunday morning
It’s all the streets you crossed, not so long agoWatch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at allWatch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at all

Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning