Get todays AMAZON biggest discount deals amzn.to/3yn2fI3 As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Velvet underground Heroin song reaction.First time hearing. #velvetunderground #musicreactions #rockreaction
Yes it’s Lou, he is a founding member, main songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist. And you are spot on about the music being timed to simulate the experience, and especially mo tucker’s drumming which was to simulate a heart beat. Super perceptive!
When a close friend was given a hard time for listening to this song he said "Lou Reed sang honestly about his experiences so that I can partially understand that side of humanity without having to go through it myself." Thanks Harri
Maureen Tucker on drums. A nice Catholic girl mixed up with Lou Reed. She's one of the most creative drummers ever. Welshman John Cale, the avant garde classical musician, on the viola making that chaotic squeal. Sterling Morrison and Lou on guitars. Oh yes, that's the Velvets.
maureen had that primal style with that many tried to mimic but couldn’t fully replicate closest to her style is meg white imo just so raw and almost that matching band quality
Great reaction! Lou Reed was an amazing writer who was ahead of his time. He wanted to inject Rock n' Roll with the kind of adult themes and taboo subjects previously only found in literature. The Velvet Underground didn't have much chart success, as the music industry was not ready for them, but their influence was monumental, and carries on to this day. In this song, Lou Reed puts himself into his subject with sensitivity, and without judgement. He was likely able to draw somewhat from his own experience, dabbling in narcotics, but as he once said, "If I did everything the characters in my songs do, I would have been dead years ago."
They say (paraphrased) “only a few thousand people bought VU’s albums, but each one of them started their own band…” That is their legacy. Hearing them can change you.
Haven't heard this in a long time. Great the way the tempo changes with the Tom simulating a heartbeat. It speeds up my heart rate just listening. I hope most of you don't understand how clever it is. Thanks for posting. Missing those who aren't here to listen. 🐉🖤
Like all great bands, the Velvet Underground had a wide range of sounds.... the same album also has some gentle, beautiful songs on it, like "I'll Be Your Mirror", and "Sunday Morning".... and another song on it, "I'm Waiting For The Man", is a key precursor of the early punk rock of the mid to late 70s. The VU is one of the most important bands of all time, and had an enormous influence.
Lou ended up living a long life and lived clean. Like his peers david bowie and iggy pop who lived the same lifestyle back then and cleaned up. But there was a lesser known musician a little after them named Peter Laughner who overdosed at a young age. He wanted to be Lou Reed. They were just expressing their realities and werent trying to glamorize it.
Great reactions breakdown. The drums representing a quickened heartbeat & the chaoticness of the 'rush' along with the lyrics make this one of Velvet & Lous most powerful performances. Intense stuff!
I think they're up there for sure. I think they were around too short, and were outshadowed by The Beatles. But very underrated and one of my favorites. This and Loaded are 2 of my favorite albums if all time.
Which is a month after Beatles started recording 'Rain'. John Cale said: ''They were a driving force in the Velvets, and made us work harder and got us on our bikes. Rubber Soul was where you were forced to deal with them as something other than a flash in the pan. It was rich in ideas and I loved the way George managed to find a way to include all those Indian instruments. Lou and I had tried to work with the Sarinda. We were only playing it just to get a noise but I realised you could play melody on the sitar as good as Norwegian Wood. Norwegian Wood had this atmosphere of being very acid. I don't think anybody has ever got that sound or that feeling as well as the Beatles.'' Sterling Morrison said that Abbey Road was a direct influence on the VU song 'Who Loves The Sun'. I'm 67 but mostly missed the Beatles and only 'discovered' them relatively recently thanks to my children. So reading up on background to this and VU in general, it was fascinating to see how influences flowed. Like quite a lot of others, I made the mistake of being too cool for school about Beatles. Beatles, Velvets, and Blondie make for a great mix for 3-hour workouts to get back fitness after a massive heart attack! Warm up, then 100 minutes on exercise bike with breaks every ten minutes to swing kettle weights or do push-ups, warm down. Those artists provide a perfect set of fast, slow, easy, grinding, and furious energies to vary the heart rate and power output.
This song is so powerful. So real. Lou Reed was just out of the clasp of the addiction, but it's always there. Primal shit man. Thanks for the reaction. Definitely hit up more VU songs. Some reason when I was in HS this song was riding with me hard. Other addictions of life I suppose.
It's Lou. He wrote the song. You nailed this right on the head. Reed, in particular, frequently denied any claims that the song was advocating use of the drug. The lyrics were more meant to focus on providing an objective description of the topic without taking a moral stance. Fans would sometimes approach the band members after a live performance and tell them they "shot up to 'Heroin'", a phenomenon that deeply disturbed Reed. As a result, Reed was somewhat hesitant to play the song with the band through much of the band's later career.
my favourite band of all time. Can you imagine this when it came out in 1967 no wonder they would not play it. Try other stuff by them like 'Pale Blue Eyes' , 'Over You', 'Waiting for the Man', 'Venus in Furs' or Murder Mystery.
Saw Lou many times over the decades, from the early ‘70s on. I miss him/hearing his music live so much. We once met on a very cold night in a NYC subway station, waiting for a local to go one stop. It was 2:30 a.m. We sat on the steps of a staircase and chatted for 20 minutes until the train came. After that encounter-because we lived in the same hood for a few years -we would occasionally run into each other, smile, say hi, exchange a minute or two of pleasantries. Several times we ran into each other at a local eatery. Whether he was there first or I was, neither of us invited the other to sit with. I assumed he wanted to read the newspaper and be left alone. But who knows? I regret I never even tried. I can’t seem to find a live performance of my favorite song, Fly Into the Sun, from New Sensations. I know I once heard it within a concert on RU-vid. But I don’t remember the details. So I will have to hunt by listening to concert after concert (there aren’t that many available; and who knows if that one is still up) until I hopefully find it. If anyone has a memory or a clue, I’d be grateful. Lou❤️!!
Fly into the sun is a great song. The whole new sensations album is great. Ive changed my opinions over the years about which of his songs i like best. Just now id say its xmas in febuary off the new york album but at other times the bed (berlin) rock and roll (rock and roll animal) there are so many, kill your sons, dirty boulavard, new sensations, pefect day( originsl before all the celebs churned out a version) new york telephone conversation, caroline says ohhh so many many harrowing ti listen to like the kids. And some that made you smile like strawman. Regards from scotland
Not seen any mention of John Cale, classically trained Welsh violinist and viola player, also guitar and keyboards. Into avant garde noise forms of mid 20th century classical music, eg John Cage. Founding member of VU with Reed. His electric viola provided the original drone sound with the deliberate intention of not sounding poppy and meaning to sound painful on the ear. Music for people with traumatic childhoods who couldn't put it out of their minds. John Cale went on to have the more interesting career and still touring in UK 2022. No point in glorifying heroin addiction but it was relatively hip in Beat circles in 1950s to early 1960s before heavy duty crime arrived on the scene encouraged by heavy-handed legislation and policing. April 1966, Beatles recorded 'Rain' with a drone sound effect without Indian instruments but conveying the drone mood of some Indian music.
The late great Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground - the music I grew up with Lou, Iggy Pop and Bowie all amazing writers and performers ! your reaction to this song Heroin was excellent and absolutly spot on with your perception of what was going on !!
I’m late to the party, but I figured you’d be the only reactor brave enough to tackle this one. Bravo! An amazing song, Lou Reeds’s masterpiece, and a very astute analysis.
This is from VU's 1st album, recorded in 1966 it sat on the record company's shelf for nearly a year before being released in 1967. I still find this song very moving every time I hear it. I recommend reacting to 'Femmne Fatale' from the same album, Nico sings lead with the group providing backup.
Well of course one can imagine being caught up in all that because Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground are doing such an amazing job of describing it......art......go figure.
Re-hearing this made me think of the whole of Patti Smith's album Horses. which was a whole eight years later. Just shows the originality of the Velvets.
John Cale produced that, also the debuts by Iggy's Stooges and Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers. Cale also produced and arranged Nico's album triology The Marble Index, Desertshore and The End, laying the foundation for Goth. And as for The Velvets, Cale was the main force behind their then revolutionary and groundbreaking sound, which is evident after his departure after WL/WH. Should have been co-credited for the music on those two albums.
Listen to John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" (original studio version) for the other side of the heroin experience. John wrote it about his heroin withdrawal in early 1969.
I discovered this song when I was 12 watching The Doors movie. Loved the song but knew for sure Herion was not ever going to be a drug for me. Still have always loved the song always.
Mo Tucker kills it on this song. Very original. She played huge Tom Tom drums. In their later reunion, she plays like orchestral drums with mallets standing up.
One of the all time great albums. Very few sales on release but went on to be possibly the most influential rock album, check out Pale Blue Eyes from this one. I believe Lou wrote the song. A fantastic documentary about The Velvet Underground came out recently by Todd Haynes, it's a wonderful film about the scene at the time even if you're not a fan of the band.
You got the point! Lou is trying to describe a heroin rush. Listen to I'm waiting for the Man from the same album. It is about going to Harlem and copping dope.
I did a lot of different drugs in my youth, but I never trusted heroin. Although in the end , that "dirty cocaine" almost got me. I was fortunate to walk away from it . Heroin took down many rock stars. Many were lucky they only lost time and not their lives.
I did the same. But I never liked any kind of drug that would bring me down so I stayed away from opioids, reds and similar drugs. And I wouldn't stick a needle in myself. Cocaine (and methamphetamine) almost got me too. I stopped each after seeing what was happening to people I knew who started them a year or so before me.
Heroin, Live, on "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" is even better than this great, original version imho. Post-Velvet when Lou went solo...one of Rock's Best Live Albums of All-Time. "Sweet Jane" is another highlight song on RnRA.
Sorry, no other version of Heroin comes close to this. John Cale and Maureen Tucker cannot be duplicated by the session musicians Lou worked with on RNRA....
Yeah, for me this one is far more interesting musically and the overall effect is far more harrowing. The later version is good, but I'm not sure that a quasi glam version does anything for me.
I was about 9 or 10 when I heard this in the Doors the first time and was blown away by it at the time. I looked through my dad's records and found he had Velvet Underground and Nico and have been kinda obsessed since
I rarely get to this point of the album. It doesn't glorify the experience, and it was probably the definitive take on it, but after one listen, I felt I "got it".
This song may not be the first to use discordance, but there may not be a more effective one. "Waiting for My Man" is another one from the Velvets written about addiction.
I've never taken drugs and subscribe to New Model Army's "Only Stupid Bastards Use Heroin" school of thought but I've always thought that this is a great song. The lyrics are very well written, Lou Reed's voice sounds wasted but his guitar sound is sublime. Mo Tucker's heartbeat drums add a whole new dimension to the song and a feeling of panic and John Cale's viola as things fall apart is very effective. The lyrics themselves are very much a documentary chronicling the downward spiral of a junkie who loses his grip on reality as he loses himself in his addiction. Lou Reed was a junkie as I would imagine that most of the band and their hangers-on, including Andy Warhol, were. The band was a celebration of indulgence and decadence. I'm not interested in that but in the short time the band existed, it wrote and recorded some wonderful music.
Thought I was the only one to mention John Cale. Glad to see your post. Cale made the sound. Reed was the competitive one and edged him out of the band. Cale wanted to keep the uncomfortable sound, Reed wanted to get more accessible
@@cuebj spot on there. I discovered The Velvets in the early 80's, got Reed's Transformer and Streethassle records, which seemed to be ok, but I couldn't hear much Velvets resemblance in his music. Then I heard Dead Or Alive from John Cale's Honi Soit lp which had just been released, by pure chance on the radio. So the following day I went to my local record store and purchased the lp. Straight away I got hooked on his music and very soon he became my absolute music God. Seen him roundabout 20 times live, always a different performance and experience, easily one of the most versatile and influential characters within Rock music. Over the years I've managed to get hold of amost all of his recordings (including some rareties), so I've uploaded them on my channel, in case you're interested.
It's valuable to hear the original Velvet Underground recordings. But more powerful and entertaining versions of these songs can be found on the classic Lou Reed live album, Rock n Roll Animal. The guitar playing on this album is fantastic.
I have to say, if you've never taken it you have no reason or right to comment because you're commenting on something you know nothing about. Every single person I ever knew who was into heroin never regretted it and never hated the drug and loved it and there were no nightmares at all. The only issue was you had to score all the time, but otherwise, the best years of my life.
I'll be double six's my next birthday. I got turned on to Lou and the VU in 1975 I think, when I was 19. I read a review in RS which was a good mag at the time a review of Coney Island Baby. I quickly escalated to the VU and I turned on my bestfriend on to what I had "discovered". We got the VU/Lou bug bad and from then on went to see Lou every time he was in LA. Lou, I miss your irreverent ass every damn day.
Oh and one more important point: Lou was a heroin user, and his boyhood was traumatic and featured electro shock therapy administered at the behest of his parents who (among other things) feared he was gay.
Nobody said that about Pepper. Rubber Soul. John Cale said: ''They were a driving force in the Velvets, and made us work harder and got us on our bikes. Rubber Soul was where you were forced to deal with them as something other than a flash in the pan. It was rich in ideas and I loved the way George managed to find a way to include all those Indian instruments. Lou and I had tried to work with the Sarinda. We were only playing it just to get a noise but I realised you could play melody on the sitar as good as Norwegian Wood. Norwegian Wood had this atmosphere of being very acid. I don't think anybody has ever got that sound or that feeling as well as the Beatles.'' Sterling Morrison said that Abbey Road was a direct influence on the VU song 'Who Loves The Sun'. ''Shortly after The Velvet Underground & Nico is released, Lou Reed tells Jackson Browne & rock critic Richard Meltzer that his two favorite guitarists are George Harrison & The Byrds' Roger McGuinn. He is later quoted in Lou Reed: Between The Lines as calling the Beatles "the most incredible songwriters ever...I don't think people realize how sad it is that the Beatles broke up"....
The lines in this song are in my opinion, like most of Lou Reed's lyrics very cynical, bordered on the sarcastic. Heroin was discovered by the German pharma company Bayer and named Heroisch (sp?) as the chemists that discovered it believed it a person feel heroic - referenced in the line "Makes me feel like I'm a man"? Or perhaps by scoring again he was able to stop the withdrawals that come 16-24 hours after the last dose and now feel human. I like your analysis but I think you firstl comments on drug users is straight out of the 80s/90s "Just say no" era. By the time someone is addicted to hard drugs like heroin it's not pleasurable any more, they need the drug to just feel normal. Heroin has never been a party drug and has been called a drug of despair, if you ever have the chance to talk to a long term drug addict 99% of the time they've some trauma and start taking the drug to block this out in the same way alcoholics use drink. Addicts may feel temporary relief when they take a drug but it's like self harm in that each time they take it they feel all of the self hate and shame that's pushed them towards this drug in the first place. These drugs destroy not just the users life but that of their family and partners as well, and framing this as a pleasure seeking approach is wrong and ignores the real solution - not alienating people from society and giving them the counseling and mental health support required to help them heal whatever has led them to this point. It's a clichéd line and downplays the issues they face but but it's still pretty true - addicts are sad not bad . Just my views anyway, keep up the good reactions.
I loved this band. Bought their first album in Cambridge Massachusetts in May of '67. I had never heard them, but the album cover caught my eye and when I saw it was part of an Andy Warhol project I bought it out of curiosity. I was hooked after the first time I listened to it. Only about a week later I got to see them live at the Boston Tea Party. After that I saw them another 4 or 5 times at The Tea Party and a performance at the Boston opening of the movie "The Happening" at the Savoy Theater in Boston late '67. All were among the best live performances I've seen in my lifetime! Almost forget to mention, that was a good an insightful reaction!
