Lou Reed and St. Germain

Factual Questions
1

The lyrics of the Lou Reed’s song, “I’m So Free” on the Transformer album read:

“Oh please, Saint Germaine
I have come this way
Do you remember the shape I was in
I had horns and fins”

Is the “Saint Germaine” referred to in this song the actual Saint (which I think is Germain) or is it a reference to Lou Reed’s sound engineer, to Ron Saint Germain (a sound engineer, I believe) or something completely different?

If anyone can clear this up it would be greatly appreciated.

2

The Comte de Saint-Germain was the Dick Clark of the 18th century. People who knew him over the span of many years said he never seemed to age. He hung out in the salons of fashionable high society in the era of Louis XV, and claimed to be centuries old, thanks to his alchemical skill.

3

hmmm…Perhaps he is a member of the Church Universal and Triumphant?

Probably not, though the CUT is especially fond of the Comte.

4

I think that it was a reference to the Comte. The idea behind it being that “horns and fins” refers to the singer’s reincarnation over hundreds of millenia, having previously met the immortal St-Germaine.

Or maybe that’s what “colitas” means.

5

There’s three actual saints as well, although, strictly speaking, spelled with a feminine e on the end it should be the last one:

St. Germain, Bishop of Auxerre - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06472b.htm
St. Germain, Bishop of Paris - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06473a.htm
St. Germaine Cousin - http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg12.htm

St. Germaine Cousin is also known as Germaine of Pibrac, and gets the large patronage brief:

And she’s credited with a lot of miracle cures. It seems like it might be, well, germane. Then again, maybe not.

6

Well, there is a sound engineer named Ron Saint Germain, and he has worked with Lou Reed:

http://www.sjpdodgy.co.uk/germain/germainbiog.html

It’s possible that the song was intended to refer to both the Comte de Sainte-Germaine and to Ron Saint Germain.

7

Wow. I only knew him as 311’s sound guy. I had no idea he was such a prolific (and old-school) producer.