The album is newly remastered. Physical copies come with liner notes by yoga instructor and author Eddie Stern; there’s also a new interview with Anderson. Deluxe editions come with five 8x10 photos of the Hudson River photographed by Reed.
“I first composed this music... to play in the background of life—to replace the everyday cacophony with new and ordered sounds of an unpredictable nature,” Reed wrote for the original album’s introduction.
“I guess by ‘life,’ he meant something like what Brian Eno might mean—ambient music that colors the air in very interesting ways. For me, it resets my brainwaves.” Anderson said in a statement. “In Tibetan Buddhism teachings, heart and mind are the same word—citta—close to the chi of Tai Chi, which is pure energy. This music is pure energy; it breathes in and out. It’s not like here’s the beginning: dum da da! And now it develops, and now it ends! Rather, it’s one long loop that keeps changing in subtle ways.”
Lou Reed’s earliest versions of some of the Velvet Underground’s greatest songs, including I’m Waiting for the Man and Heroin, have been unearthed and will be released again.
The US record label Light in the Attic, in partnership with Reed’s widow Laurie Anderson, will release Words & Music, May 1965 as the first album in a new archival series.
Words & Music, May 1965 will also be available on single LP, CD, cassette and 8-track formats, as well as on streaming and download services. Clips of the songs can be heard now on Light in the Attic’s website.