History Music / TheVelvetUndergroundAndNico

* LarynxDissonance: That female voice you here in "Sunday Morning"? Well, it's not a woman, it's just Lou Reed putting on an incredibly convincing female voice! Many listeners have been fooled thinking it's Nico, though if you compare it to her other tracks on the album you immediately notice the difference.

* TheBigRottenApple: "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "Run Run Run"
* {{Corpsing}}: Lou Reed can be heard cracking up on the last verse of "Heroin".

* DaysOfTheWeekSong: "Sunday Morning"
* {{Dedication}}: "European Son," to the writer Delmore Schwartz, who had been one of Lou Reed's college professors. (Reed's solo song "My House" memorialized Schwartz.)
* DeathSeeker: The narrator of "Heroin".

* DrugsAreBad: "Run Run Run", "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting For The Man", though [[MisaimedFandom not all listeners got the message]]. Music/LouReed was horrified whenever fans told him that they took their first shot of heroin while listening to "Heroin".

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: That [[HellIsThatNoise ungodly noise]] that kicks off the instrumental portion of "European Son" is Music/JohnCale pushing a metal chair with a stack of plates on it across the studio.
* FemmeFatale: "Femme Fatale".
* GenreRoulette: Gregorian Chants ("All Tomorrow's Parties"), Eastern drones ("Venus In Furs", "Heroin"), lullabies ("Sunday Morning"), pop ballads ("Femme Fatale", "I'll Be Your Mirror"), free jazz ("European Son"), Motown ("There She Goes Again"), your basic Rock 'n Roll ("I'm Waiting For The Man", "Run Run Run") and an avant-garde flamenco tune ("Black Angel's Death Song").
* HemoErotic: The sado masochistic song "Venus in Furs" closes with Lou Reed droning: "Now bleeeeeeed for me!"
* LecherousLicking: "Kiss the boot... of shiny, shiny leather" in "Venus in Furs"

* LiteraryAllusionTitle / FilkSong: "Venus In Furs" is based on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novella of the same title.

* NoiseRock: "European Son" is the prototype.
* NothingLeftToDoButDie: What the Black Angel of Death seems to advise in "The Black Angel's Death Song".
* TheNotRemix: Several times over - for instance, the first CD issue had an alternate mix of "All Tomorrow's Parties", and with all the various remasters, re-releases and luxury editions the album has seen, you can pretty much be a collector of this one album.
* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Venus In Furs".
* OneWomanSong: "Femme Fatale".

* PostRock: "Heroin" is often said to be the song that started this trend off.
* RipVanWinkle: The lines "I'm tired/I'm weary/I could sleep for a thousand years/a thousand dreams that would awake me" in "Venus in Furs".

* SingleStanzaSong: "European Son"
* TheSomethingSong: "Black Angel's Death Song"
* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "I'll Be Your Mirror", which sounds really innocent between those other songs about sex and drugs.
* UnusualEuphemism: Warhol called Nico a "chanteuse" when he introduced her to the Velvet Underground so that the band wouldn't have the impression he was actually adding a new front singer to the group.
* WhatTheHellIsThatNoise: "European Son".
* WordSaladLyrics: "Black Angel's Death Song", deliberately by Reed.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: Lou Reed was inspired to write "All Tomorrow's Parties" by watching Andy Warhol and the people at Warhol's Factory.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: "I'll Be Your Mirror"

* ExecutiveMeddling: The band got total creative freedom from Warhol, yet the actual release of the album was delayed for almost over a year. Despite the fact that the recordings only took two days! Most of it had to do with making the banana cover "peelable" and Warhol spending more time on other projects. LouReed however, was convinced that FrankZappa had forced the producers to delay their record so that Zappa's "Freak Out!" album could be released in 1966 as the first "underground rock" album. Interestingly enough: producer Tom Wilson worked on both albums!

* FemmeFatale: "Femme Fatale".

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The title of the album deliberately separating Nico from the rest of the band could come off as this.

* Corpsing: Lou Reed can be heard cracking up on the last verse of "Heroin".

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: The 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition, which has no less than ''three' different mixes of the album, along with Music/{{Nico}}'s first solo album, plus an entire concert.

* EverythingIsBetterWithBananas

* PatienceIsAVirtue: The protagonist in "I'm Waiting For The Man".

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: "I'll Be Your Mirror"

-->'''NICO''': "''When you think the night has seen your mind\\

Because I see you''"
-->--'''The Velvet Underground''', "''I'll Be Your Mirror''"

* WordSaladLyrics: "Black Angel's Death Song", deliberately by Reed.

* DrugsAreBad: "Run Run Run", "Heroin" and "Waiting For The Man", though [[MisaimedFandom not all listeners got the message]]. Music/LouReed was horrified whenever fans told him that they took their first shot of heroin while listening to "Heroin".

* PatienceIsAVirtue: The protagonist in "Waiting For The Man".

* DrugsAreBad: "Run Run Run", "Heroin"'' and "Waiting For The Man", though [[MisaimedFandom not all listeners got the message]]. Music/LouReed was horrified whenever fans told him that they took their first shot of heroin while listening to "Heroin".

The Album Cover is equally famous: a huge banana, designed by Creator/AndyWarhol. On the original record cover the yellow skin could be peeled off.

* WorldSaladLyrics: "Black Angel's Death Song", deliberately by Reed.

The Velvet Underground usually gets the praise they deserve, but Music/Nico's contribution to this album is sometimes overlooked. Especially since she only sang three songs on the album and didn't appear on their other albums.

!!This album features examples of:

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "I'll Be Your Mirror", which sounds really innocent between those other songs about sex and drugs.

The Music/VelvetUnderground's debut album, released in 1967, and one of the most influential rock albums of all time. Together with Music/FrankZappa's ''Freak Out!'' (1966)'' it's often considered to be the first underground rock album. Also a CultClassic, since it didn't sell well upon its original release, but did become one of the best known rock albums in history.

-->"''When you think the night has seen your mind\\

The AlbumCover is equally famous: a huge banana, designed by Creator/AndyWarhol. On the original record cover the yellow skin could be peeled off.

The Music/VelvetUnderground's debut album, released in 1967, and one of the most influential rock albums of all time. Together with Music/FrankZappa's ''"Freak Out!" (1966)'' it's often considered to be the first underground rock album. Also a CultClassic, since it didn't sell well upon its original release, but did become one of the best known rock albums in history.

TheVelvetUnderground's debut album, released in 1967, and one of the most influential rock albums of all time. Together with FrankZappa's ''"Freak Out!" (1966)'' it's often considered to be the first underground rock album. Also a CultClassic, since it didn't sell well upon its original release, but did become one of the best known rock albums in history.

The AlbumCover is equally famous: a huge banana, designed by AndyWarhol. On the original record cover the yellow skin could be peeled off.

TheVelvetUnderground usually gets the praise they deserve, but Music/Nico's contribution to this album is sometimes overlooked. Especially since she only sang three songs on the album and didn't appear on their other albums.

* DrugsAreBad: ''"Run Run Run", "Heroin"'' and ''"Waiting For The Man"'', though [[MisaimedFandom not all listeners got the message]]. LouReed was horrified whenever fans told him that they took their first shot of heroin while listening to ''"Heroin"''.

* FemmeFatale: The song ''"Femme Fatale"''.
* GrimReaper: ''"The Black Angel's Death Song"''.
* Homage: The festival ''"All Tomorrow's Parties"'' takes its name from the song on this album.

* NoiseRock: ''"European Son"'' is the prototype.
* ObligatoryBondageSong: ''"Venus In Furs"''.
* PatienceIsAVirtue: The protagonist in ''"Waiting For The Man"''.
* OneWomanSong: ''"Femme Fatale"''.

* PostRock: ''"Heroin"'' is often said to be the song that started this trend off.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: ''"I'll Be Your Mirror"'', which sounds really innocent between those other songs about sex and drugs.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: ''"I'll Be Your Mirror"'', which sounds really innocent between those other songs about sex and drugs.