Sappy and Irony go to elementary school with The Velvet Underground

It's a Saturday morning, it's summer in the northern hemisphere, and in a few days The Reveres are off to the beach for a communal vacation. A Revere-fest (or infestation). A little time away from the pressure cooker is good for people our age, old enough to remember the proto-punk rock band The Velvet Underground. They were part of the New York scene in the sixties when the revere tapping these keys lived there. Lou Reed, one of its best known members and song writers, is almost exactly my age (give or take a few months). We are also both still alive (at least he is).

The Velvet Underground was part of a subculture that included Andy Warhol. Its music was sometimes accused of being nihilistic. Whatever. The Reveres are a lot of things but nihilistic isn't one of them. Whoever we are, long time readers know that along with the science and politics comes a certain amount -- maybe a large amount-- of sappiness. Today we are going to let you have it with both barrels, Sappy and Irony. Because if you can watch the fifth grade chorus of PS22 do Lou Reed's song, I'll be Your Mirror, without relishing -- in a sappy sort of way -- that someone accused of being nihilistic wrote it, your irony detector is broken beyond repair and your sap has run dry. Hat-tip for the link to sweet "O'Leary", my dear friend from the old days: