Five Lou Reed Songs to Console Lew Reed On His Mayoral Primary Loss

Lou serenades a disappointed Lew, talking to reporters about the loss.

Yesterday the City of St. Louis essentially elected incumbent Mayor Francis Slay to an unprecedented fourth term. Technically, it was only the Democratic mayoral primary, but winning the primary all but seals the deal for the general election. Unless, of course, James McNeely shocks everyone and pulls out a victory for the Green Party.

See Also:
-Slay Versus Reed: It's Time to Press the Reset Button

Generally speaking, we here at RFT Music aren't the most political bunch, and, personally, I didn't really have a dog in this fight (I wrote in Bob Reuter as my candidate). But that's not going to stop us from compiling a list of rock icon Lou Reed (born Lewis A. Reed) songs to console his fellow Lewis Reed, the St. Louis Aldermanic President and loser of yesterday's election.

Busload of Faith:

It's easy to imagine a down-in-the-dumps Lew Reed hunched over an empty bottle in his living room, replaying the last year or so in his head: He launched a legitimate grassroots campaign; he rallied the unaccounted and disenchanted; and he instilled a sense of hope in those who were fed up with our city's stagnant growth. All for naught? Not necessarily, but it probably feels that way. (I wouldn't know, haven't lost a mayoral election ... yet). But it's almost as if Lou Reed wrote this song after losing a mayoral race to a three-time incumbent. Jaded and downtrodden, Reed sings: "You can't depend on intelligence / ooohhh, you can't depend on God / You can only depend on one thing / You need a busload of faith to get by." Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and hop on the bus, Reed.

Sick of You:

This one's appropriate for a couple reasons. For one, you have Lou Reed riffing about a myriad of present day issues: local, geo-political, socio-economic problems alike. I gather Lew Reed was pretty fed up with the state of our city, too, and that's what presumably prompted him to run a campaign for change. But Sick of You also speaks to Lew on another level: We're sure he's freakin' sick of Mayor Slay.