If you weren’t alive in the happy 1980s, you can’t understand Lou Reed, says local man

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Today’s youth cannot understand Lou Reed because they were not alive in the 1980s, a decade brimming with happiness and good feelings, says Seth, a 20-something who frequents your local coffee shop.

“It’s the whole 1980s milieu that teenage fans of Lou Reed will never really get,” said Seth. “There was just so much going on in that decade that made Lou Reed the happy, vibrant singer he was. The economy was buzzing and we had Reagan telling us tomorrow would be a good day. Gorbachev was opening up the Soviet Union. Fun drugs like cocaine were all the rage.”

Seth believes people who were first exposed to Lou Reed in the 1990s will never really be able to understand the levity of his lyrics.

“By the 90s, everything was different. Dark, self-loathing grunge had taken over and heroin was the drug du jour. Lou Reed didn’t fit in at all. He belonged to the smiling 80s.”

“Some people say he was superficial,” Seth said. “I disagree. He was optimistic, like everybody then.”