Page 8-S Aay, May 29, 1982-The Michigan Daily
Records (cont.)
(Continued from Page 7)
positive instead of against something.
Reed isn't just knocking down idols,
although "Average Guy" takes on your
standard wingers pretty well:
I ain't no Christian or no born
again saint/ I ain't no cowboy or a
Marxist D.A. / Iain't no criminal or
Reverend Cripple from the right/
I'm just your Average Guy/ Trying
to do what's right.
Though oft-hailed assthe father of
punk, Reed stands a step hack from
such self-proclaimed nihilists as Mr.
Rotten and Mr. Vicious-or, more
likely, goes a step further: he tries to
put something in the void, to create
something. Recognizing the fine line
between sincerity and pathos, in-
spiration and self-deception, Reed per-
serveres.
This album centers primarily around
that attempt. Reed alternates songs
about pain, death, violence and adver-
sity ("The Gun," "The Blue Mask,"
"Waves of Fear,") with odes to the
serenity of home life with wife Sylvia,
feminity, and interpersonal relations
("My House," "Women," "Heavenly
Arms"). Such a mix of seemingly con-
tradictory or inappropriate topics is en-
tirely intentional, showing the constant
friction of life in a hostile or indifferent
environment - and the rewards.
"The Day John Kennedy Died"
demonstrates perfectly the conflict
between intentions and reality, the
division between dreams of a fresh ap-
proach (the New Frontier) and the
destructiveness which appears sud-
denly like a sniper's shot, but which
seems, on reflection, closer to home
than isolated flashes.
Reed tries constantly to show his
ingrained or assumed stereotypes -
and then reject or question them,
without condeming himself uselessly: I
used to look at women in the
magazines/ I know that it was
sexist, but I was in my teens.
"The Heroine" pits a strong yet ten-
der maternal figure against the fier-
ceness of a storming sea. And the out-
come is never certain - drowning or
victory? But the drive cannot be
assassinated.
Lou Reed doesn't give himself a
break (i.e., self-delusions about the all
consuming power of love or liberalism
or whatever), but he does give himself
a chance. And he commits himself to it.
And he enjoys it. And so do we.
-Ben Ticho
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Simple English Bible
cleans up King James
By the United Press
The King James Version of the Holy
Bible's New Testament has endured
onslaughts on its language since its
publication in 1611.
Critics of the King James version
claim that it is written in stilted
English. But defenders praise the tran-
slation for its beauty and poetic quality.
Several new translations of the New
Testament have appeared in the 20th
century.
The latest version, The Simple
English Bible, is the product of more
than eight years of research by over a
thousand consultants.
This Bible is translated from the
original Greek and uses only a 3,000
word vocabulary. "The goal was to
produce a translation of God's word in
the simplest possible terms for the
whole family," said Stanley Morris,
director of the project.
Here is a comparison between the two
versions:
King James - "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God,
and God was the Word."
Simple English Bible - "In the
beginning was the Message. The
Message was with God. The Message
was deity."
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