I'm Waiting for the Man
| "I'm Waiting for the Man" | |
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| Song by The Velvet Underground | |
| from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
| Released | March 12, 1967 |
| Recorded |
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| Genre | |
| Length | 4:39 |
| Label | Verve |
| Songwriter(s) | Lou Reed |
| Producer(s) | Andy Warhol |
| The Velvet Underground & Nico track listing | |
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"I'm Waiting for the Man" is a song by the American rock band the Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed. It was first released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The song is about purchasing $26 worth of heroin (equivalent to $187 in 2016) in a Harlem brownstone near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street in New York City, sung from the point of view of the purchaser who is presumably traveling to Harlem from another part of the city; the "man" in the title is a drug dealer. Along with traditional guitars, bass, and drums, the song also features pounding, percussive rock-and-roll barrelhouse-style piano. It is one of the band's more popular songs, and one of their many compositions featuring drugs as subject matter. After leaving the band in 1970, Lou Reed continued to incorporate it into his solo live performances.
It was released as a single in October 1971 (with "There She Goes Again" on the B-side) as by Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground on MGM Records.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #159 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song was among a set of early songs to be recorded by Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison in the band's Ludlow Street loft in Manhattan. This version of the song, free of percussion, has a considerably more folk and even blues influence in style than the album version. It is available on the first disc of the Peel Slowly and See box set.
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