Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico by Joe Harvard Page B
Authors: Joe Harvard
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song; but that’s only the most obvious of its strengths.
One reason for the song’s critical lionization is the recognition that it created its own unique category. The song trod upon the white picket fence that separated rock and roll’s moon-June love songs from the multiplicity of topics already available to film and literature, and in doing so it gave songwriters the freedom to write about real life. It would be a mistake to think of “Heroin” and “I’m Waiting for The Man” as mere precursors to other songs about drugs and society’s dark underbelly; they are that, yes, but they are so much more. By avoiding the safe, accepted topics and writing instead about life’s extreme situations, Reed made it permissible for all rock music that followed to incorporate both ends of the spectrum and everything in between.
Musically, David Fricke is perhaps most eloquent in describing why “Heroin” is so important in the Velvets’ songbook:
Ultimately, “Heroin” is the microcosmic essence of everything that happens musically on
The Velvet Underground and Nico
—the tumultuous crush of guitar holocaust and viola screech, the see-saw dynamics of outright noise and skeletal lullabye melodicism, the bold, punctuative shifts in rhythmic time and tempo. It is a song of programmatic genius, sucking you into the wake of the addict’s rush with vicious acceleration,suddenly breaking into a dead calm as the fuck-off opiate state kicks in. 100
“Heroin” was the first ram that the Velvet Underground used to batter down the walls hemming in rock lyricists—and it did so using just two chords: D and G. The economy with which the Velvets approached their arrangements would one day make them a major influence on the musical rebellion known as punk. At the time, however, it meant that John Cale had an ideal environment in which to explore the techniques that would become his trademark, such as creating complexity through the repetition of simple parts. The amount of drama and movement that the Velvets evoked using those two chords is amazing, and the band was well on the way to fulfilling one of Cale’s goals: “The opportunity to do something Phil Spectorish with the limited resources of a rock and roll band—four people.” 101 The structure also funnels the arrangement’s elements toward an inexorable buildup of energy:
David Fricke: Reed has often pointed out that even performed solo on acoustic guitar, “Heroin” has an irresistible locomotive tug.
Lou Reed: It’s just two chords. And when you play it, at a certain point, there is a tendency to lean in and play faster. It’s automatic. And when I first played it for John [in ’64], he picked up on that. Also, if you check out the lyrics, there are more words as you go along. The feeling naturally is to speed up.” 102
Prior to its release on
The Velvet Underground and Nico,
two early versions of the song bear comment. On the Ludlow demos, despite a low volume, acoustic performance, the song sounds much the same as it would on the album. Clearly “Heroin” is one song that Lou wrote single-handedly, as distinct from later Velvets’ numbers that either involved significant input from other members or were outright group compositions.
The second noteworthy version of “Heroin” shows the flipside of the Ludlow performance: a live, instrumental take without lyrics performed for the closing credits of a WNET public television special.
Andy Warhol presents The Velvet Underground
was part of the “USA Artists” series, filmed February 7, 1966 in New York. Sterling Morrison recalled the session was filmed on the eve of Warhol’s first
Uptight
show at Film Makers’ Cinematheque in Manhattan, and “it sounded very peaceful and what we were playing was actually an instrumental version of
Heroin.
The final thing as they were showing the credits and it went droning on.” 103 That night Warhol introduced the band, saying, “I’m sponsoring a new band.
One reason for the song’s critical lionization is the recognition that it created its own unique category. The song trod upon the white picket fence that separated rock and roll’s moon-June love songs from the multiplicity of topics already available to film and literature, and in doing so it gave songwriters the freedom to write about real life. It would be a mistake to think of “Heroin” and “I’m Waiting for The Man” as mere precursors to other songs about drugs and society’s dark underbelly; they are that, yes, but they are so much more. By avoiding the safe, accepted topics and writing instead about life’s extreme situations, Reed made it permissible for all rock music that followed to incorporate both ends of the spectrum and everything in between.
Musically, David Fricke is perhaps most eloquent in describing why “Heroin” is so important in the Velvets’ songbook:
Ultimately, “Heroin” is the microcosmic essence of everything that happens musically on
The Velvet Underground and Nico
—the tumultuous crush of guitar holocaust and viola screech, the see-saw dynamics of outright noise and skeletal lullabye melodicism, the bold, punctuative shifts in rhythmic time and tempo. It is a song of programmatic genius, sucking you into the wake of the addict’s rush with vicious acceleration,suddenly breaking into a dead calm as the fuck-off opiate state kicks in. 100
“Heroin” was the first ram that the Velvet Underground used to batter down the walls hemming in rock lyricists—and it did so using just two chords: D and G. The economy with which the Velvets approached their arrangements would one day make them a major influence on the musical rebellion known as punk. At the time, however, it meant that John Cale had an ideal environment in which to explore the techniques that would become his trademark, such as creating complexity through the repetition of simple parts. The amount of drama and movement that the Velvets evoked using those two chords is amazing, and the band was well on the way to fulfilling one of Cale’s goals: “The opportunity to do something Phil Spectorish with the limited resources of a rock and roll band—four people.” 101 The structure also funnels the arrangement’s elements toward an inexorable buildup of energy:
David Fricke: Reed has often pointed out that even performed solo on acoustic guitar, “Heroin” has an irresistible locomotive tug.
Lou Reed: It’s just two chords. And when you play it, at a certain point, there is a tendency to lean in and play faster. It’s automatic. And when I first played it for John [in ’64], he picked up on that. Also, if you check out the lyrics, there are more words as you go along. The feeling naturally is to speed up.” 102
Prior to its release on
The Velvet Underground and Nico,
two early versions of the song bear comment. On the Ludlow demos, despite a low volume, acoustic performance, the song sounds much the same as it would on the album. Clearly “Heroin” is one song that Lou wrote single-handedly, as distinct from later Velvets’ numbers that either involved significant input from other members or were outright group compositions.
The second noteworthy version of “Heroin” shows the flipside of the Ludlow performance: a live, instrumental take without lyrics performed for the closing credits of a WNET public television special.
Andy Warhol presents The Velvet Underground
was part of the “USA Artists” series, filmed February 7, 1966 in New York. Sterling Morrison recalled the session was filmed on the eve of Warhol’s first
Uptight
show at Film Makers’ Cinematheque in Manhattan, and “it sounded very peaceful and what we were playing was actually an instrumental version of
Heroin.
The final thing as they were showing the credits and it went droning on.” 103 That night Warhol introduced the band, saying, “I’m sponsoring a new band.
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