Thoughts on the Velvet Underground & Nico

Sunday Morning: my mom always described this song as being really beautiful, but as I re-listened to it I noticed how extraordinarily unnerving it is. The distorted plinks of xylophone (which reside solely in the right speaker) are part of it, I think. It gives it a sort of broken music box feel, which is a trope saved primarily for the horror genre. Lou Reed's voice also has this weird sort of hushed quality to it that adds to the uneasy feeling. 

I'm Waiting For The Man: while written about a drug dealer, this song would be amusing as a gay anthem. 

Femme Fatale: this song reminds me a lot of Sunday Morning, especially with the background guitar on the lyrics which sound suspiciously similar to those xylophone plinks. Also gives me a weird Beach Boys vibe (do to the background vocals). 

Venus in Furs: another song about heroin, beautiful. But, this song actually reminds me a lot of Strawberry Swing by Coldplay (or vice versa). Something about the tone of the strings in this one and the tone of the background electric guitar riffs in Coldplay's. 

Run Run Run: This song feels very classic rock to me. something about it, the way it's mixed maybe, is just very fuzzy and feels old. 

All Tomorrow's Parties: This song reminds me of the Bob Dylan song 'My Back Pages'. The line (from velvet) "she'll turn once more to Sunday's clown and cry behind the door" and (from dylan) "ah, but i was so much older then, i'm younger than that now" have near identical melodies. I just listened to it, heard that line and was like holy shit, that's Dylan. 

Heroin: there's many bands who've sung about heroin. one off the top of my head is the song 'Sleeping Powder' by Gorillaz (damon albarn had a heroin habit at one point), but this song is just so blatantly about heroin it's amusing to me. "Cause it makes me feel like i'm a man/when i put a spike in my vein" is just so blatantly about heroin, which was the point, but also sort of weird to hear. most songs about it will glorify it poetically through euphemisms, but these guys don't try to do that at all. They poeticize through what it directly is. which, y'know, that's fair enough. 

There She Goes Again: man, the singing style sounds like Bob Dylan. these two bits of Dylan cannot be a coincidence, that's all I gotta say. 

I'll Be Your Mirror: another soft, slightly creepy, Nico-based song. these ones are very similar (this one, sunday morning, femme fatale), probably as it was for Nico's style. I know Nico sung Sunday Morning in the live shows (though Reed sang it for the album). 

The Black Angel's Death Song: maybe it's just because I'm aware of it now but this sounds like another Dylan-esque piece. I mean the strings sound very Velvet Underground-y (because they seem more abnormal I guess), but at the same time it sounds like an irish jig band that is very out of practice. 

European Son: Chaos. Pure unadulterated vibing, jamming, grooving chaos. Beautiful. 

Also, something about the way the (non Nico based) songs are mixed reminds me of Mac DeMarco's first album, Rock'n'Roll Nightclub. that could be because I've been on the DeMarco train ('choo choo' - here comes the cowboy!) for a few weeks now, but there's got to be something to it. There's this messy, blurry, fuzzy sort of sound all around mixed with twanging guitars that gives me those early DeMarco vibes. Or vice versa, given the 45 year gap. 

alright, cheers. lemme know if you have any takes on this album or if you agree/disagree with any of mine! i love hearing conflicting music points. also, hoping to do more of these when the inspiration strikes me, so stick around :) 

peace.