We Are The People

Album: Free (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Iggy Pop delivers a spoken-word monologue of a Lou Reed poem over sparse piano chords and Leron Thomas' lyrical trumpet.
  • Iggy's friend, the late Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed, wrote "We Are The People" in 1970. It is part of a collection of poems published for the first time in the 2018 anthology Do Angels Need Haircuts? Reed penned them during a six-month period after he'd left the Velvet Underground and went to work for his father's accounting firm.

    Pop told the BBC that "We Are The people" completely resonated with him. "Like, 'wham,' like 'pow,'" he said. "It was the first poem in a book of lyrics and when I saw it, I thought, 'My God, this is the country today as I understand it, or at least one legitimate portrayal of the country today. It really spoke to me."
  • Iggy Pop performed the track live at the February 26, 2020 Tibet House benefit show alongside Laurie Anderson. The artist and musician was married to Reed from 2008 until his death in 2013.
  • Iggy Pop shared a minimal video for the song that shows one continuous, unbroken shot of the rocker's face as he recites the poem. He released the clip on March 2, 2020, which would have been Reed's 78th birthday.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Francesca Battistelli

Francesca BattistelliSongwriter Interviews

The 2011 Artist of the Year at the Dove Awards isn't your typical gospel diva, and she thinks that's a good thing.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.