Venus in Furs (song)
| "Venus in Furs" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Velvet Underground from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
| Released | March 1967 |
| Recorded | May 1966, T.T.G. Studios,Hollywood |
| Genre | Experimental rock,art rock |
| Length | 5:12 |
| Label | Verve |
| Writer(s) | Lou Reed |
| Composer(s) | Lou Reed |
| Producer(s) | Andy Warhol |
| The Velvet Underground & Nico track listing | |
|
|
"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 one of three songs to be re-recorded, in May 1966 at T.T.G. 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 ostrich guitar, which is a guitar with all of its strings tuned to the same note. The more prominent guitar work is Reed's guitar at standard tuning, albeit a semitone down. Guitarist Sterling Morrison played bass on the song, but according to Cale, who was the band's usual bassist, Morrison never cared for the instrument. 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".
...
Wikipedia