All My Favorite Songs #7: Pale Blue Eyes
My favorite Velvet Underground song is probably their least Velvet Underground-y song. The band is best known for their groundbreaking noisier, confrontational work, or maybe their more pop-oriented rock songs. And sure, right from the start Lou Reed offset his deliberately abrasive side with surprisingly pretty ballads, but even there, the softer tunes had a bit of an edge (i.e. "Femme Fatale"). "Pale Blue Eyes," however, is a straight ballad. It's achingly and unironically beautiful (a trait it shares with a few other tracks on their 1969 self-titled third record , my personal fave), full of longing and unrequited love, Lou at his most heartfelt. Reed gets his best croon going, and while his sing-speak vocal style isn't exactly Sinatra (or McCartney), the song hits you right in the gut. " Thought of you as my mountaintop, thought of you as my peak. Thought of you as everything I've had but couldn't keep. Linger on, y our pale blue eyes.&qu
