Laurie Anderson turned her body into an instrument during a Brooklyn procession, striking her chest and limbs to the beat of electronic percussion while delivering life advice she developed with her late husband, Lou Reed. The performance, part of Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi, has a clip making the rounds online.
Anderson revisited three rules for living she first shared with Reed:
- “Don’t be afraid of anybody.”
- Get a really good bullshit detector and learn how to use it.
- Be really tender.
She has repeated these rules for years, including while accepting Reed’s posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
The September 19th procession through Downtown Brooklyn combined the rules with a striking visual: Anderson’s body as a percussive instrument, recalling her 1986 “Drum Dance,” where she wore a suit embedded with sensors that triggered different sounds depending on where she tapped her body.
The Rules Revisited
The three rules are simple enough to repeat at home but large enough to fill a career. They cover fear, bullshit detection, and kindness, and Anderson has carried them through loss and into public life.
Anderson delivered them together, letting the booming electronic percussion underscore each point. The physicality of the performance — striking her chest and limbs — made the advice feel less like talk and more like action.
Anger and Understanding
During the performance, Anderson turned her attention to the anger she sees around her today. She urged the crowd to look beneath it rather than simply react. That shift from reacting to understanding is the core move of the piece.
She invoked the teachings of a Buddhist teacher, suggesting that getting to the root of someone’s anger will ultimately lead to the same place: a broken heart. “So many people are so angry these days,” she said, before encouraging the audience to “try to understand this anger” and get to the bottom of it.
The performance asked the crowd to sit with discomfort rather than flee it. That is a harder demand than most live shows make.
The Buffalo Procession
Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi was a two-day public art project that sent 40 life-size buffalo puppets through Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. Musicians, actors, dancers, poets, tribal elders, and community groups joined the procession.
The project was created by Amir Nizar Zuabi in partnership with Elders from the Lenape and Lakota Tribes. The buffalo’s return from near extinction served as a symbol of healing, resilience, and renewal.
Featured Participants
The procession drew a notable cast. Rhiannon Giddens, Haley Heynderickx, Max García Conover, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, Rosario Dawson, and others were among the featured participants.
Key Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 19 | Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi procession through Downtown Brooklyn |
| 2015 | Anderson accepts Reed’s posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |
The Takeaway
Anderson’s performance is a reminder that art can be both personal and political. The rules she shared are small, but they address some of the biggest problems facing people today.
Her delivery — striking her body to percussion — made the advice feel urgent. The procession itself, with its buffalo puppets and its Lenape and Lakota framing, gave the performance a sense of history and purpose.
The clip has been making the rounds online, and it deserves to. Anderson’s rules are worth repeating, and her willingness to deliver them in a striking, physical way makes them easier to remember.
The performance succeeds because it is both immediate and timeless. Anderson is speaking to now, but the rules she offers are ones that will outlast any single moment.
See the video the story is built around at Consequence.
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