What Goes On (Velvet Underground song)

This article is about the Velvet Underground song. For the Beatles song, see What Goes On (Beatles song).

"What Goes On"
Single by The Velvet Underground
from the album The Velvet Underground
B-side	"Jesus"
Released	March 1969 (1969-03)
Recorded	November–December 1968
Studio	TTG Studios, Hollywood
Genre	Rock [1] pop [2]
Length	4:55
Label	MGM
Songwriter(s)	Lou Reed
Producer(s)	The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground singles chronology
"White Light/White Heat" (1968) "What Goes On" (1969) "Who Loves The Sun" (1971)

"What Goes On" is a song by the Velvet Underground. It was the only single released from their third album, The Velvet Underground (1969).

The song was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood.

A concert performance of the song, with Doug Yule on keyboards, was included on their double live album 1969: The Velvet Underground Live . ^[3]

Personnel

Yule, Morrison (back) and Reed (front) in a magazine advertisement for the single

• Lou Reed – lead vocals, multi-tracked electric and acoustic guitars (including solo)
• Doug Yule – bass, organ, backing vocals
• Sterling Morrison – multi-tracked electric guitars (including solo)
• Maureen Tucker – drums

Other media

The "What Goes On" organ riff was used in the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime," featured on their 1980 album Remain in Light . ^[4]

In 1978, aficionados Mike "MC" Kostek and Phil Milstein started the Velvet Underground Appreciation Society, which collected, cataloged and made available various rarities. ^[5] They published a fanzine titled "What Goes On", and later on a newsletter titled "What Goes On Jr." ^[6]

References

1. Deming, Mark. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (1969) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
2. Narayan, Kathy (2002). "BBC - Music - Review of The Velvet Underground - The Very Best Of". BBC Music . Retrieved 17 February 2025. But it also features several lesser-known top pop tunes: Sweet Jane, What Goes On and Beginning To See The Light...
3. Unterberger (2009)
4. "Once in a Lifetime". The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. National Public Radio broadcast. 27 March 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
5. Zak (1997)
6. Le Velours Souterrain

Further reading

• Le Velours Souterrain, Velvet Underground fanzines
• Unterberger, Richie. White Light/White Heat The Velvet Underground Day By Day ; Jawbone Press; June 1, 2009; ISBN   9781906002220
• Zak, Alban.The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary; Schirmer Trade Books; November 1, 1997; ISBN   9780028646275