”It always bothers me to see people writing ’RIP’ when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, ’RIP’ is the microwave dinner of posthumous honours”
(english below)
Den här bilden florerar i sociala medier idag, även jag har delat vidare den. Citatet påstås vara från Lou Reed, men precis som twittraren @ettpunktnoll invände så verkar det osannolikt påpassligt. Har verkligen Lou Reed sagt det här? Några googlingar visar nära noll träffar på citatet innan hans död. Men tusentals tumblrs som repostar citatet efter hans död. Däremot finns inte heller någon källa som motsäger citatet.
Och sådär fungerar ju internet. Vi förväntar oss både källhänvisningar eller att någon ska motbevisa. Och när det senare inte finns förutsätter vi att det, väl, är okej.
Så här kommer därför en post som ifrågasätter, för er få som googlar innan ni postar.
Förhoppningen är att den som vet mer, eller har en magkänsla som säger annorlunda, kan bidra med ny information.
This is a post that is trying to find verification on the Lou Reed quote. Yet no one has posted any facts showing it is not Lou Reeds quote, and this is why this post is being written. Do you have any doubts or information of this quote being false, please comment below.
Seems legit.
How come?
I can’t imagine that any Guy Wood be heartless enough to try and spread his own personal opinions by attributing them to a recently deceased, globally beloved man. That’d take a real bastard.
Well, I don’t want to be the cynical bastard here, but I find it a bit peculiar (i.e highly unlikely/downright baffling) that such a poignant quote would not have found its way to the World Wide Allmighty Web prior to a couple of days ago. Which, by all accounts (i.e Google), it hadn’t.
I’m sorry to say, but that’s how web behaviour and virality often work – someone, a real heartless bastard or not, has an idea (e.g a clever line about RIP) and comes up with a way (possibly) to make it go viral (e.g sticking Lou Reed’s face to it; ”oh, what a stroke of genious, and how ironic and savoury to have all those lazy RIP:ers choke on their own faux condolences!” …right?)
And then it doesn’t matter if someone else gets the credit for it (especially not if it’s someone who can’t actually take the credit, e.g by way of being recently passed) – the sheer knowledge of having unleashed a potent virus on the world (wide web) is (perhaps perverse) satisfaction enough.
(And no; I’m not the one behind the Lou Reed RIP quote. Or am I…?)
That being said, the loss of a person is always sad, the loss of a globally beloved person even more so (at least mathematically). So – regardless of whether or not Lou Reed actually said the discussed lines, I most sincerely hope that he can now indeed rest in (a most unabbreviated) peace. (Possibly in velvet, underground.)
There’s a fine line between cynicism and skepticism. If you can’t trust 2000+ retweets and a personal endorsement from Stephen Fry, what can you trust?
My skepticism. And, maybe to a lesser degree, my cynicism. ;-)
A high number of RT:s is a very poor evidence of authenticity, I’m afraid – yes it may be my cynicism speaking again, but – to put it nicely – having a twitter account doesn’t exactly require a notary lisence (or any sense of scrutiny whatsoever) and tweets are hardly sworn affidavits. A certain number of RT:s of the ”Lou Reed Microwave Dinner” may very well imply that all those retweeters, even Stephen Fry, to some extent agree with the quote – not necessarily that it was indeed said by whomever it is claimed said it (or, for that matter, that the retweeter in question even believes that it was).
Okay, so maaaaybe Lou Reed said/wrote down those words and then had them stored, like a will, for posterity so that, in the event of an RIP Bandwagon at his demise, someone could bring it up as a big ironic ”Burn!” sign, but other than that I have no explanation as to why no one had quoted Reed on those words before two days ago. So in this case I have to go with my skepticism/cynicism. Sorry. :-)
Still, however, I do to some extent agree with the Microwave quote, whether it was Lou Reed, may he rest in peace (Aww, goshdarnit!!), or someone else who came up with it, and the point it brings works fine (albeit not superbly) even if it wasn’t coined by Lewis Allen himself. And in 99 cases of 100 I would trust the Great Mr Fry with my life! :-)
Those were my two cents. Thanks for tuning in!
Live long and prosper, and remember – never trust anyone! Except maybe Stephen Fry.
Bravo, sir.
you think some evidence wood ward off any guy attempting to create a such a quote and pass it off as something Lou reed would say. however if Steven fry retweets something then it is iinstantly true.
It is apocryphal, Lou Reed never said it. If he did it would be attributed to a date, a place a publication.
But it is popular and people like it.
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