On Brian Eno’s Velvet Underground Cover, Everything Clicks Into Place
On the Velvet Underground‘s self-titled 1969 album, “I’m Set Free” is a moment of catharsis. The chorus is sung from the gut, and after the band belt the title a few times, Lou Reed gently sings, “I’m set free to find a new illusion.” The song’s chorus alone is a good fit for Brian Eno, who has often lauded the cathartic and emotional health virtues of singing. “I believe that singing is the key to long life, a good figure, a stable temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super self-confidence, heightened sexual attractiveness and a better sense of humor,” he once wrote.
Eno sings “I’m Set Free” to close his new album The Ship and its “Fickle Sun” suite. The cover is a testament to the unwavering power of his voice. Eno sang on the two Eno • Hyde records from 2014, but his voice wasn’t the sole attraction. On recent ambient efforts like Lux, his voice has been absent altogether. Here, he’s harmonizing with himself over spare arrangements. Like the original, he’s gentle throughout except when he’s belting the song’s three titular words. Compare it side-by-side with his classic mid-’70s records—his voice is an instrument that’s aged beautifully.
Thematically, “I’m Set Free” is the perfect song for Eno. Responding to the idea of finding a new illusion, Eno wrote, “That’s saying we don’t go from an illusion to reality (the western idea of ‘finding the truth’) but rather we go from one workable solution to another more workable solution.” Eno’s interpretation is consistent with his history as a musician and thinker. His “Oblique Strategies” cards—the randomized series of directives used to sidestep creative blocks—are just one rejection of any arbitrary distinctions of right and wrong. “It seems to me,” he wrote, “what we don’t need now is people that come out waving their hands and claiming they know the Right Way.” When he sings “I’m Set Free,” everything clicks into place—a song by a band that influenced him with credo that he’s followed for his entire career.
Recent Comments