Magic and Loss is about Rachel, isn't it?

[Mark]

I'm not the first person to have made this connection, but I don't think it's been widely acknowledged.

It's known that Magic and Loss was inspired to the loss of two of Lou's close friends: Doc Pomus and someone only identified as 'Rita'. He's been very open about Doc, but when asked about Rita he simply said “Rita wouldn’t have wanted to be known. I was a very lucky person to know her."

There was a widely held theory that Rita was the Factory character Rotten Rita (Kenneth Rapp) - however he didn't actually die till 2010.

As for Rachel, for years nothing was known of what happened to her after breaking up with Lou in 1978. However the New York Times reported, as part of an article about mass burials of AIDS victims on Hart Island that "Another notable person buried on Hart Island is Rachel Humphreys, who in the mid-1970s was Lou Reed’s transgender partner and the inspiration for the music and artwork on Mr. Reed’s 1976 album “Coney Island Baby.” Ms. Humphreys, whose birth name was Richard, died in 1990 at St Clare’s Hospital, which specialized in treating AIDS patients at the time, though Ms. Humphreys’ official cause of death is unknown."

It's reported elsewhere that the date of death was January 30th 1990, age 37 - which would fit with both the timeframe of the album and Rachel's approximate age.

The clincher, though, is right under our noses - the CD booklet for the album:



The face on the left is of course Doc Pomus. But the fainter woman's face on the right - surely that's Rachel? Looking at other photos of her online, it's a pretty good match I think.

Anyone got any thoughts?

[cubguy23]

Oh definitely! I'd say Halloween Parade is about her as well

[cubguy23]

Excellent post. Never saw that faint image of her in the booklet. Also very doubtful Lou was that close with Rotten Rita to make them the subject of a record

[MJG196]

In no way is Magic & Loss about Rachel. I don't mean to sound rude, but it's utterly ridiculous to even suggest it.

Lou was always very expressive about what M&L was about - the death of Doc Pomus and "Rita" (more than likely Rotten Rita from Warhol's circle). Rita was rumored to have died in 1991, but didn't die for a number of years after that.

I can't recall a single interview where he mentioned her after the 1970's. I'm willing to bet that if an interviewer brought Rachel up, he'd cut the conversation off immediately and probably end the interview then and there. When Lou is done with someone, he's done. Period. That's how he was for his entire career (life?).

Rachel is a fascinating aspect of Lou's life and career, but once the relationship was over, that was it.

As for the image on the right, it looks nothing like Rachel. See HERE.

[MJG196]

With regard to Halloween Parade, Lou was very passionate about the AIDS epidemic and its affect on the gay community. That's what the song was about.

There's a down town fairy singing out, "Proud Mary"
As she cruises Christopher Street
And some Southern Queen is acting loud and mean
Where the docks and the Badlands meet

This Halloween is something to be sure
Especially to be here without you

There's a Greta Garbo and an Alfred Hitchcock
And some black Jamaican stud
There's five Cinderellas and some leather drags
I almost fell into my mug

There's even another nod to Rita in there, as well:

And Johnny Rio and Rotten Rita
You'll never see those faces again

[pineappleaftermath]

I totally agree they are about Rachel, I've put this theory forward on various forums myself. To me it is obvious (or very probably, at least) and I was surprised no one who has written a Lou Reed biography has ever picked up on this fact.
I don't see how Magic & Loss could possibly be about Rotten Rita if they weren't even dead yet! The timeline fits with Rachel though. Also, all of the concrete lyrics refer to Doc Pomus. There is no real information about a second person in the songs, even if the album was dedicated to two people. I think it was meant for Rachel, just kept extremely private. Lou may have said it was about "Rita," but since when was he 100% honest about the details of his life?
As for Halloween Parade, a song about members of the LGBT community in New York City dying of AIDS, who else could the line "In the back of my mind I was afraid that they meant you" refer to?

[cubguy23]

I hate adding a conspiracy theory but we're in quarantine so f*** it. Whenever I listen to Guardian Angel, I imagine he's talking about Rachel. I kno it may seem far fetched but who knos

[cubguy23]

I have a ring
I have a dress
I have an empty shell
By the books below tea cups
I've kept a kind of hell
By the books below tea cups
I've kept a kind of hell
Panic and anxiety so often in my head
But I had a guardian angel
Who took care of me instead
The champagne cork, the nightlight owl

[bleach]

I haven’t heard it reported much but apparently at least one song is based about Lincoln Swados, he was Lou’s roommate at Syracuse University. 'Harry's Circumcision' is said to be written about him, I have always found this song a little out of keeping with the albums other songs - the theme is suicide and frustration with life rather than cancer or hospitals. Swados suffered from schizophrenia and died homeless in New York in 1989.

[Mark]

In no way is Magic & Loss about Rachel. I don't mean to sound rude, but it's utterly ridiculous to even suggest it.

Lou was always very expressive about what M&L was about - the death of Doc Pomus and "Rita" (more than likely Rotten Rita from Warhol's circle). Rita was rumored to have died in 1991, but didn't die for a number of years after that.

I can't recall a single interview where he mentioned her after the 1970's. I'm willing to bet that if an interviewer brought Rachel up, he'd cut the conversation off immediately and probably end the interview then and there. When Lou is done with someone, he's done. Period. That's how he was for his entire career (life?).

Rachel is a fascinating aspect of Lou's life and career, but once the relationship was over, that was it.

As for the image on the right, it looks nothing like Rachel. See HERE.

Thanks for your thoughts MJG (although if you sincerely don't mean to sound rude, maybe try and do better). I guess we'll have to agree to differ on whether the booklet image resembles Rachel - for me, the eyes, chin and hair are all a credible match.

It would seem very odd to me for Lou to have been inspired to write a song cycle inspired, even in part, by a mere rumour that someone had passed away. If he'd been that close to Rotten Rita, surely he'd have had the resources to know if it was true or not. It also doesn't stack with him saying that 'Rita' was a private person who wouldn't want to be known. Why use their actual name then?

I'm not sure it was a hard-and-fast rule that once Lou was done with someone, that was it. Sometimes, sure. But there were some people who he kept in his life to some degree for years, albeit usually with rather complicated relationships - Billy Name, Warhol, Mick Rock, even most of the Velvets. Hell, he was right between Songs for Drella and the VU reunion at this point. And Rachel was clearly a huge figure in his life - he even said in Rolling Stone after the breakup that he missed her. No doubt all that was complicated by him going straight and clean soon afterwards, and the marriage to Sylvia, but is it that unbelievable that he'd discreetly check in with her over the years - or at least, be deeply affected when he heard she'd passed away.