‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’: The sweetest side of Lou Reed
Most of us regard Lou Reed as a rebel figure with a musical style rooted in rock and roll and lyrics that challenge conventions. What we often tend to forget as a result is that he could also be wonderfully delicate, even when the more tender parts of his career were subtle and difficult to spot.
Unlike most musicians, Reed’s legacy is one marked by extreme contradiction. The more celebrated aspects of his career often overshadow the fact that he, too, was capable of making mistakes. His formative years were particularly fraught with missteps, not only in his personal relationships but also in his approach to music. During that time, he was far from the polished, self-assured artist he would eventually become.
Although his path as a rock innovator was always fated to happen, the entire musical concept Reed worked hard to establish was bolstered by his friends within The Velvet Underground and Nico, whose impact on the band and the broader scene could never be understated despite her brief tenure. For starters, she brought out a side to Reed that wasn’t exactly all that easy to tap into.
Nico’s distinctive voice complemented the avant-garde style of Reed and The Velvet Underground, adding a certain aggressiveness that enhanced the band’s raw authenticity. Although this wasn’t something they openly embraced, at least not at first, it was crucial to their longevity. It also provided a strangely enticing contradiction, the hardened core of Nico’s delivery and the intricacy of her contributions creating a dynamic tension that enriched their sounding unexpected ways.
Written by Reed for Nico, ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ presented a surprisingly delicate moment for Reed, who approached the song with a tender heart and injected it with minimalist beauty. Inspired by one moment when Nico offered to be Reed’s mirror, he took this sentiment and created a song that would be a guiding light when she felt the most self-critical. As he put it, “Every single word was meant for her… to make her feel better about herself.”
The lyrics reflect this, particularly in how they tap into a perceived lack of self-belief, alongside the promise that Reed will forever be “a hand to your darkness so you won’t be afraid.” Being so poignant and unafraid to display such overt affection wasn’t usually a description pinned to Reed, but this song reveals a softer side that contradicts his edgy and confrontational persona.
Even when he displayed his softer side, the more direct and unabashed approach of his punk ethos bled through in ways that were hard to describe. As Nick Cave once explained during an interview with Channel 4, Reed put “the most sonically aggressive music and put it side by side by some of the most beautiful ballads that anyone has ever written. There was something that Lou started when he did his stuff,” he added, “Which was that kind of punk ethic that he still held true to himself until the end.”
While it’s often easy to dismiss Reed’s romantic side, the reflections he emitted through his music were less absent and more subtle, with songs like ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ proving that the contrasting elements of his punk side weren’t separate but often working in tandem. It’s also a duality that few have managed to master; Reed possessed an extensive musical range, but the depth of his lyricism also allowed him to explore both the raw edges of human experience and the sweeter sides without distracting from his overall position as rock troubadour.
