John Cale has released a tribute video set to a re-recorded version of "If You Were Still Around" in memory of his fallen friends and bandmates, most notably Lou Reed.
As Rolling Stone points out, Reed died one year ago today, Oct. 27, and is featured a lot in the video below. Cale and Reed worked together in the influential art rock band Velvet Underground, from which Cale exited in 1968. A statement accompanying the video reads "Thinking of You" before launching into a story probably about Reed.
"A Moth and a Candle met," he wrote. "They decided to become friends. Everyone enjoyed watching their discourse — specially the risk takers. Then one day a big rain came. The Moth couldn't fly and the Candle puttered out. Everyone laughed in bitter awe and blamed the rain. Most, however, knew the deeper truth — the Candle remains lit and the Moth will stay close."
Other collaborators featured in the video include Andy Warhol, Nico, Sterling Morrison and Edie Sedgwick. The song is originally from 1982's Music for a New Society.
Although Cale and Reed's disputes reached legendary status and ultimately led to Cale's departure, the experimental rock superstar had nothing but positive sentiments after his friend died from liver disease last year.
"The news I feared the most pales in comparison to the lump in my throat and the hollow in my stomach," Cale wrote in a statement after the news broke. "Two kids have a chance meeting and 47 years later we fight and love the same way — losing either one is incomprehensible.
"The laughs we shared just a few weeks ago will forever remind me of all that was good between us."
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