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"Venus in Furs" | |
---|---|
Song by the Velvet Underground | |
from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
Released | March 12, 1967 |
Recorded | May 1966 |
Studio | TTG, Hollywood, California |
Genre | Drone rock [1] |
Length | 5:12 |
Label | Verve |
Songwriter(s) | Lou Reed |
Producer(s) | Andy Warhol |
Official audio | |
"Venus In Furs" on YouTube | |
Audio sample | |
"Venus in Furs" |
"Venus in Furs" is a song by the Velvet Underground,written by Lou Reed and originally released on the 1967 album The Velvet Underground &Nico . Inspired by the book of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch,the song includes sexual themes of sadomasochism,bondage and submission.
"Venus in Furs" was also released as a single on several occasions;in 1988 in the UK and as a live single in France and the UK,in 1993 and 1994 respectively. This live version appears on the 1993 live album Live MCMXCIII .
"Venus in Furs" was one of three songs to be re-recorded,in May 1966 at TTG Studios in Hollywood,before appearing on the final mix of The Velvet Underground &Nico (the other two being "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man"). The arrangement features John Cale's cacophonous electric viola as well as Lou Reed's guitar tuned to D G C F A C. Guitarist Sterling Morrison played bass on the song,but according to Cale,who was the band's usual bassist,Morrison never cared for playing the instrument. [2] [3] The backbeat consists of two bass drum beats and one tambourine shake,played at a slow pace by Maureen Tucker.
In his essay "Venus in Furs by the Velvet Underground",Erich Kuersten writes:
"There is no intro or buildup to the song;the track starts as if you opened a door to a decadent Marrakesh S&M/opium den,a blast of air-conditioned Middle Eastern menace with a plodding beat that's the missing link between "Bolero" and Led Zeppelin's version of "When the Levee Breaks". [4]
Morrison always cited "Venus in Furs" as his favourite Velvet Underground song,as he believed that the band had achieved the sound that they had intended. [5]
The song was one of several early songs to be recorded by Lou Reed,John Cale and Sterling Morrison in their Ludlow Street loft during July 1965. This version of the song features a drastically different arrangement than would appear on The Velvet Underground &Nico,and ends with what David Fricke calls a "stark,Olde English-style folk lament" in the liner notes for Peel Slowly and See (the 1995 compilation album upon which the Ludlow demos appear). John Cale provides lead vocals for this demo recording of the song.
An alternate take of the song was first recorded at Scepter Studios,New York City before being re-recorded in Hollywood. This take of the song is performed at a quicker pace and the lyrics vary slightly from the TTG recording.
Live recordings of "Venus in Furs" appear on Bootleg Series Volume 1:The Quine Tapes (recorded in San Francisco,December 1969) and on Live MCMXCIII (recorded in Paris,June 1993).
The 2012 deluxe six-CD boxed set,celebrating the album's 45th anniversary features,as Disc 4,the original version of the album,cut to acetate on April 26,1966,known as the "Norman Dolph acetate". This features a version with more of Cale's viola in the arrangement. Additionally,on the same disc,there is a "fun version" recorded on January 3,1966,during rehearsals at Warhol's Factory. [6]
"Venus in Furs" is widely considered one of the band's greatest songs. In 2012, Paste ranked the song number nine on their list of the 20 greatest Velvet Underground songs, [7] and in 2021, The Guardian placed the song at number three on their list of the 30 greatest Velvet Underground songs. [8]
In 1965,the Velvet Underground appeared in Piero Heliczer's underground film,Venus in Furs,which was named for the song. Heliczer,the Velvets,and the other performers were featured in a CBS News segment titled "The Making of an Underground Film" which aired in December of that year. This brief appearance turned out to be the only network television exposure for either Heliczer or the band. [9] [10]
A version of the song is performed by the fictional band Nürnberg 47,played by the real Swedish band Reeperbahn,in the 1983 film G (also known as G som i gemenskap)
The song is featured in Gus Van Sant's 2005 film Last Days ,a fictionalized account of the last days of a musician,loosely based on Kurt Cobain.
In the British TV series Being Human ,the song is used prominently in season 2,episode 5.
A version of the song was specially recorded by Julian Casablancas for the HBO television series Vinyl . It appeared on the soundtrack of the second episode during a flashback to Andy Warhol's Factory,alongside "Run Run Run".
The song is featured in season 2,episode 2 of the series POSE as the character Elektra enters the Hellfire Club for a dominatrix session.
Pat Robitaille's cover of the song was featured in season 1,episode 1 of the Netflix series You.
In 1993,the song was used as the soundtrack for a British advertisement for Dunlop Tyres,by the advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and directed by British director Tony Kaye. The advertisement was notable for featuring both fetish and surrealist imagery. [11]
The Velvet Underground &Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico,released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. The album features experimental performance sensibilities and controversial lyrical topics,including drug abuse,prostitution,sadomasochism and sexual deviancy.
Peel Slowly and See is a five-disc box set of material by the Velvet Underground. It was released in September 1995 by Polydor.
Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is an American musician and singer-songwriter who was the drummer for the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground. After they disbanded in the early 1970s,she left the music industry for a while,though her music career restarted in the 1980s,and continued into the 1990s. She has released four solo albums,where she played most of the instruments herself,and has periodically toured. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of the Velvet Underground.
Holmes Sterling Morrison Jr. was an American guitarist,best known as one of the founding members of the rock group the Velvet Underground,usually playing electric guitar,occasionally bass guitar,and singing backing vocals.
Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album and second studio album by German singer Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records and was recorded following Nico's collaboration with the Velvet Underground on their 1967 debut studio album. It was produced by Tom Wilson,who added string and flute arrangements against the wishes of Nico. The title is a reference to Andy Warhol's 1966 film Chelsea Girls,in which Nico starred.
"Here She Comes Now"/"Venus in Furs" is a split single by American rock bands Nirvana and Melvins. It was released in June 1991 by The Communion Label.
The Very Best of The Velvet Underground is a compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in Europe on March 31,2003,by Polydor,the record label that oversees the band's Universal Music Group back catalog.
Live MCMXCIII is a live album by the Velvet Underground. It was released simultaneously in single and double CD/cassette formats on October 26,1993,by Sire Records,then DVD format on January 24,2006. The single CD is an abridged version of the double CD edition,featuring tracks 2,13–16,5,6,9,18,and 20–23 in that order. There are no different takes of songs across the multiple editions although the actual track times differ by a few seconds between releases.
Gold is a two-CD compilation album by the Velvet Underground. It was released for the North American market on June 14,2005,by Polydor,the record label that oversees the band's Universal Music Group back catalogue.
"Heroin" is a song by the Velvet Underground,released on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground &Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964,the song,which overtly depicts heroin usage and its effects,is one of the band's most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming of Allmusic writes,"While 'Heroin' hardly endorses drug use,it doesn't clearly condemn it,either,which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners." In 2004,it was ranked at number 448 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",and was re-ranked at number 455 in 2010.
"I'm Waiting for the Man" is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Written by Lou Reed,it was first released on their 1967 debut album,The Velvet Underground &Nico. The lyrics describe a man's efforts to obtain heroin in Harlem.
"The Black Angel's Death Song" is a song by the Velvet Underground,from their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground &Nico. It was written by Lou Reed and John Cale. In a footnote to the lyrics,Lou Reed wrote:"The idea here was to string words together for the sheer fun of their sound,not any particular meaning."
"Sunday Morning" is a song by the Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground &Nico. It was first released as a single in December 1966. The song is written in the key of F major.
The ostrich guitar or ostrich tuning is a type of trivial tuning. It assigns one note to all strings,e.g. E-E-e-e-e'-e' or D-D-D-D-d'-d'. The term "ostrich guitar" was coined by the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed after the pre-Velvet Underground song "The Ostrich" by Lou Reed and the Primitives,on which he first recorded using this tuning,the first known commercial composition to make use of a trivial guitar tuning.
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico,written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album,The Velvet Underground &Nico.
"I'll Be Your Mirror" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico. It appeared on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground &Nico. It also surfaced as a single a year earlier with "All Tomorrow's Parties" in 1966.
"Here She Comes Now" is a song released by the American rock band the Velvet Underground in January 1968,from their second studio album White Light/White Heat. As the shortest song on the album,the performance and mix of the song are both considered simple and traditional,making it somewhat distinct from the other five songs on the album,all of which contain some degree of experimental or avant-garde elements in terms of sound.
"Run Run Run" is a song by the Velvet Underground originally released on the band's 1967 debut album,The Velvet Underground &Nico.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. It originally comprised singer and guitarist Lou Reed,Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale,guitarist Sterling Morrison,and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965,who played on most of the band's recordings. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success,they became one of the most influential bands in rock,underground,experimental,and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter,musical experiments,and nihilistic attitude was also instrumental in the development of punk rock,new wave and several other genres.
The Velvet Underground and Nico:A Symphony of Sound is a 1966 American film by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was made at The Factory on January 3,1966. It is 67 minutes long and was filmed in 16mm black and white.
When I had to play viola, Sterling had to play bass, which he hated.According to the website, the quote is from John Cale's autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen (NY: St. Martin's Press (2000).