I suppose someone could come along and turn this into a pop song, but it would take a lot away from the original. I wonder how many people could have predicted these scores? Of course I only give A+s to songs that could easily be translated into an ordinary pop-song!. They keep that rather unkempt texture going throughout its entire six minutes, and I never break my concentration on it. The vocal melody is quite simple, but what keeps it unique of course is that pounding piano in the background and those almost picked-at guitars noodling around. She sings a catchy tune as well, and it's no surprise that acts like Nick Cave and Japan pulled out excellent cover versions of this. Perhaps she might not be an ordinary singer, but who the hell defines what a “singer” is, anyway? Her deep voice takes command over this song like some sort of evil countess. Once again, Nico takes the lead vocals, and she's chilling. It's a good song as well although the pounding guitar riffs aren't nearly as potent as the previous songs, and the melody isn't great either. But I suppose The Beatles' use of feedback sounded more civilized than this, with those squeaky noises coming as a result of an extremely fast-paced and off-kilter electric guitar solo. But what band was the first to ever do that in rock 'n' roll? The Beatles. The squeaky feedback sounds purposefully used in this song was a revolution at the time. I could imagine Frank Sinatra turning this into one of his awful songs, except it wouldn't have been that awful.
It's quite mesmerizing! And the melody is even catchy. Rather, Cale recreates the droning tambura sound with his viola, and they play some slowly paced, clompy percussion. Yes, I'm just overloading this with A+s! What else can I do? These songs are great! This song has a definite Indian influence, but it's not even remotely similar to The Beatles' “Within You Without You” released that same year. But this song is catchy! I mean, Duran Duran covered this. The strings and keyboards play familiar patterns and the song is structured with a traditional verses and chorus. Then again, perhaps I've gotten so used to this album that I won't even dare to picture it sounding any other way? This song is easily one of the most accessible ones, and I would imagine it wouldn't sound all that out-of-place on a Henry Mancini soundtrack. Her voice is spooky, like some sort of German ghoul, and she fits the hazy, drugged up atmosphere of this wonderfully. I don't know why people bother to hate her, though.
Here is Nico, one of the most unloved creatures in all rock 'n' roll. But through all that, they have a hooky tune, and that pounding piano plays quite a catchy riff. The atmosphere isn't nearly as lush as the previous song, but it's still thick and quite gritty. It's characterized by a pounding piano and drums and Lou Reed's deadpan vocal performance. This song is about DRUGS! Even if you weren't listening to the lyrics, you would probably suspect that about it, because it sounds like its on drugs. Lou Reed's lead vocals (which were originally intended for Nico's vocals) sounds like how I feel after taking a Benadryl. Cale also had the brilliant idea to play a celesta throughout this, which was the one instrumental touch that most people find memorable about this song. John Cale's viola is this album's signature sound, and you can hear it play long-drawn-out and hazy notes in the background. What was uniquely The Velvet Underground was that drowsy and eery drugged-up atmosphere.
The melody isn't unlike something that any old pop act of the day could conceivably come out with. All you have to do is take a listen to this song and realize that The Velvet Underground are accessible after all.
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