Skip to content
Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube

psychedelic Scene

psychedelic Scene Magazine

  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Categories
    • Music
    • Lists
    • Books
    • Art
    • Columns
    • Science
    • Film
    • Podcasts
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Categories
    • Music
    • Lists
    • Books
    • Art
    • Columns
    • Science
    • Film
    • Podcasts
Navbar
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Categories
    • Music
    • Lists
    • Books
    • Art
    • Columns
    • Science
    • Film
    • Podcasts
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Categories
    • Music
    • Lists
    • Books
    • Art
    • Columns
    • Science
    • Film
    • Podcasts

The Psych Ward–The Velvet Underground & Nico

PrevPreviousDreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle–Album Review
NextThe Top 100 Neo-Psychedelic AlbumsNext
  • Rob Cavenagh
  • July 7, 2023
  • 9:06 am

The Psych Ward–The Velvet Underground & Nico

The definition of psychedelic music is one fraught with controversy – or at least opinions. To quote an article from this site; “the endearing and enduring genre means different things to different people.” The debut album by the Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico – was released in March of 1967, the golden era of psychedelic music to some. Any number of elements could qualify (or disqualify) the album outright: the banana cover art by Andy Warhol, a German chanteuse, the use of orchestral strings (specifically a viola) in a rock context, lyrical subject matter that pertains to drug use, sado-masochism and other “deviant” topics. 

 

Taken as a whole, the album wasn’t particularly successful upon release, famously selling “only 30,000 copies the first five years” according to an interview with Brian Eno. To add more context to that famous quote of Eno’s from 1982, he also elaborated that “I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!” 

 

The album starts with “Sunday Morning,” a slice of dreamy pop magic that centers around a xylophone figure and features dreamy vocals – a combination that wouldn’t be out of place in a modern pop playlist or Wes Anderson soundtrack. The last track to be recorded, “Sunday Morning” is probably the least “true” psychedelic song on the album. 

The famous Andy Warhol cover of the album The Velvet Underground & Nico

“I’m Waiting For the Man” and “Heroin” are odes to respectively buying and using drugs. Both employ a Lou Reed song structure to be seen on subsequent albums – both Velvet Underground and solo – featuring two chords repeated over and over with an occasional third but relying on distortion, volume dynamics, and layered instruments to provide the story. 

 

While “Femme Fatale,” “Run Run Run” and “There She Goes Again” (despite its close musical similarity to “Hitch Hike” by the Rolling Stones) are fairly straightforward pop songs. The real argument for The Velvet Underground & Nico being a psychedelic album is found in “Venus In Furs” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” as well as “European Son” to a lesser degree. Featuring the aforementioned viola, “Venus In Furs” is a sparse and droning chant with a floor tom and tambourine and occasional guitar over Reed’s angular lyrics about whips and “shiny boots of leather.” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” follows a similar rhythmic structure but adds a “prepared” piano and is built on Nico’s unmistakable Teutonic alto double-tracked to add depth. 


The Velvet Underground & Nico, despite its slow start upon release, has since become a seminal influence on modern music, inspiring countless bands in many genres.

Gallery

Recent Articles

Album cover for Electric Prunes' album Underground with vinyl record popping out of sleeve
Vinyl Relics: Underground by The Electric Prunes

Vinyl Relics: Underground by The Electric Prunes

•
May 9, 2025
Blotter paper with Mickey Mouse in Fantasia garb
Acid Lore: Mickey Mouse LSD

Acid Lore: Mickey Mouse LSD

•
May 6, 2025
Swirling cartoon image of Hunter S. Thompson in a psychedelic haze.
Psychotropic Cinema: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Psychotropic Cinema: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

•
May 3, 2025
PrevPreviousDreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle–Album Review
NextThe Top 100 Neo-Psychedelic AlbumsNext
Loading...
  • Columns, Music, Vinyl Relics

Vinyl Relics: Underground by The Electric Prunes

  • Farmer John
  • May 9, 2025
  • No Comments
  • Acid Lore, Columns

Acid Lore: Mickey Mouse LSD

  • Paul Weatherhead
  • May 6, 2025
  • No Comments
  • Columns, Film

Psychotropic Cinema: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

  • Jeff Broitman
  • May 3, 2025
  • No Comments
  • Music, Reviews

Evolution Now by Technicolor Blood–Album Review

  • Brian Cooper
  • April 28, 2025
  • No Comments
  • Music

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets Release New Single and Launch US/European Tour

  • Allie Iverson
  • April 24, 2025
  • No Comments
  • Interviews, Music

Interview with Jason Simon of Dead Meadow

  • Jason LeValley
  • April 21, 2025
  • No Comments

Gallery

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Sign up for our Newsletter

Sign up for our mailing list to receive updates on trending stories, featured music articles, artist highlights and much more!

Contact Us

psychedelic Scene

Magazine

  • Home
    Home
  • About Us
    About Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
    Contact Us
  • Art
    Art
  • Books
    Books
  • Music
    Music
  • Film
    Film
  • Interviews
    Interviews
  • Reviews
    Reviews
  • Lists
    Lists
  • Features
    Features
Copyright @ 2025 All Rights Reserved Psychedelic Scene Magazine

Designed & Developed by: SYNC Digital Management

psychedelic Scene

Magazine

Learn More About Psychedelic Sacred Sexuality

Buy The Book On Amazon