John Cale has released a new video for the song “If You Were Still Around”. The song is a tribute to Cale’s former bandmate Lou Reed, who passed away last year.
Lou Reed, the former frontman of Velvet Underground, received liver transplant around May 2013. News of the operation was kept quiet. Reed canceled his performance at Coachella that year, but it was unclear why. His wife, Laurie revealed later that Reed was dying of liver cancer. A few months later in October, Reed died of his liver related aliment at age 71.
Cale’s video serves as a touching tribute to Reed. Cale is the center of the video as he is surrounded by photos and images. He is emotional throughout the video and the lighting and setting create a very somber mood that is obvious to the viewer.
In a press release by Cale he tells a story in relation to the idea of “thinking of Lou” he states:
“A Moth and a Candle met. They decided to become friends. Everyone enjoyed watching their discourse – especially the risk takers. Then one day a big rain came. The Moth couldn’t fly and the Candle puttered out. Everyone laughed in bitter awe and blamed the rain. Most however knew the deeper truth – the Candle remains lit and the Moth will stay close.”
The new video for “ If You Were Still Around” is available below.
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