Lou Reed’s song Ennui is the standout song of one his less acclaimed albums, Sally Can’t Dance, with music and lyrics that embody the title.

Ennui perfectly captures the exquisite languor of Camus’s character Meursault in his novella L’Etranger – and the atmosphere of François Ozon’s film adaptation, shot in glorious monochrome.

It appeared on Reed’s fourth solo album Sally Can’t Dance in 1974: far from a favourite of mine (or most other Reed fans), but that’s largely down to its production.

It does contain some good songs, including Kill Your Sons (about his time in a psychiatric institution) and Billy (about a childhood friend who took a very different path in life).

This, though, is its best one, with a weary, exhausted feel to the music that matches lyrics finding Reed at his most bleak and cynical, exemplified in the line: “You’re the kind of person that I could do without.” Classic Reed!

It mirrors the line in the film (and book) in which Meursault responds to his girlfriend Marie’s inquiry of “Do you love me” by sighing wearily: “Does it matter?”

The plodding pace, the mournful weeping of the pedal/slide guitar, and the bored monotone vocal, all accentuate the lethargic feel of a rare song that – to the best of my knowledge – Reed has never once performed live.

And of course the title itself – Ennui – captures the existential void at the heart of the protagonist, which is the point of the book.