The Velvet Forum

Kill Mick wrote: ↑23 Jan 2021 10:55 Wasn't Pale Blue Eyes written about a woman Lou had an affair with? If we know when the affair ended it might give us a clue at to when he wrote the song...

He knew Shelley Albin from Syracuse where they were lovers from the early 60s. But Shelley finished with Reed in 1963 and then she got married in '66. Then sometime in 1966 she moved to NY with her husband, where she met Reed again. And in 1968 she started an affair with Reed. So although he wrote the song in '65 he must have re-written it in '68 (as hkmartin tells us, the lyrics were changed) and that led it to being on the 3rd album. And then of course when she finally finished the affair with him, I suppose he wrote I Can't Stand It.