Lou Reed Helped Me Make It Through High School

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I don't think there was one person in my high school--metal and musicals ruled there--who had even heard of Lou Reed's New York, but I couldn't get enough of all that righteous, liberal sarcasm; loosey-goosey rockabilly; and monotonous sprechstimme. The album was all mine, and when you're 16 going on 17, you want something that's yours and yours alone. Plus, it's one of the few albums not country that sounds great through a pickup truck's speakers.

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