Michael Stipe Sings Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes”

November 8, 2013 11:36 am

Videos by American Songwriter

Here’s a bit of found footage making it’s way across the Internet that brings us back to a bygone era – the 1980s, when everything was black and white and you could still get hit by a train.

In this 1983 clip from photographer Laura Levine’s underground film “Just Like A Movie,” R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe wanders by the train tracks, then sits down with an acoustic guitar to sing Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes,” a track from the Velvet Underground’s 1969 debut album. While it appears that Stipe does indeed know how to play an instrument, the audio was actually recorded on a walkman earlier that day, with Matthew Sweet (of “Girlfriend” fame) providing the guitar accompaniment. Stipe did play the accordion that you hear in the video.

Watch it all unfold below.

2 responses to “Michael Stipe Sings Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes””

Eric Block

November 8, 2013

Err, that was from their third album… But thanks for posting!

Log in to Reply
1. Laura Levine
  
  November 8, 2013
  
  Filmmaker Laura Levine here. The author (Evan) is correct. This was recorded earlier that day by me, on my Walkman, with Matthew Sweet playing guitar. A different version recorded by the entire band was on an album years later. (Thanks for posting the clip, btw!)