13. “Satellite of Love”
Lou Reed (1972)
Technically this is a simple song about jealousy, but it’s jealousy fueled by the images on TV. It’s about how what we see on TV — satellites sailing into the sky, for example — doesn’t measure up to the reality here on Earth. “Satellite of Love” is far from a screed or a paean to TV, so much as a glimpse at the impact of the medium’s intensity on ordinary viewers. If you spend too much time watching idealized and pasteurized stories on TV, your real-world perspective may get distorted.

Pictured: Lou Reed performd at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, June 14, 2012.