View source for Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)

{{Short description|1967 song by the Velvet Underground}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Heroin
| cover         = 
| alt           = 
| type          = 
| artist        = [[the Velvet Underground]]
| album         = [[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]
| released      = {{Start date|1967|03|12}}
| recorded      = May 1966
| studio        = [[TTG Studios]], Hollywood, California
| venue         = 
| genre         = * [[Experimental rock]]<ref name="zak">{{cite book|last=Zak|first=Albin|title=The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BA3da2UPobgC&q=heroin+velvet+underground|access-date=1 March 2014 |year=2000|publisher=Music Sales Group|isbn=978-0028646275}}</ref>
* [[avant-pop]]<ref name= "Stanley 2013">{{cite book|first=Bob |last=Stanley|title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop|chapter= 1975: Storm Warning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-28198-5|page=422}}</ref>
*[[proto-punk]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/features/proto-punk-10-records-that-paved-the-way-for-76/|title=Proto-punk: 10 records that paved the way for ’76|first=Anton|last=Spice|date=August 31, 2016|website=the Vinyl Factory|access-date=December 21, 2024}}</ref>
| length        = {{Duration|m=7|s=12}}
| label         = [[Verve Records|Verve]]
| writer        = [[Lou Reed]]
| producer      = [[Andy Warhol]]
| misc          = {{Audio sample
 | type        = song
 | file        = TheVelvetUndergroundHeroin.ogg
 | description = "Heroin"
}}
}}

"'''Heroin'''" is a song by American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[the Velvet Underground]], released on their 1967 debut album ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]''. Written by [[Lou Reed]] in 1964, the song, which overtly depicts [[heroin]] usage and its effects, is one of the band's most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming of [[Allmusic]] writes, "While 'Heroin' hardly endorses drug use, it doesn't clearly condemn it, either, which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners."<ref name="Allmusic">[{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t833543|pure_url=yes}} "Heroin"] at [[AllMusic]]</ref>  In 2004, it was ranked at number 448 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s list of "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]",<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620035749/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/5|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-06-20|title=Rolling Stone Greatest Songs 2004 401-500|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=16 August 2021}}</ref> and was re-ranked at number 455 in 2010.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/the-velvet-underground-heroin-160472/|title=Heroin ranked 455 by Rolling Stone in 2010|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=16 August 2021}}</ref>

==Writing and recording==
In an interview with [[WLIR]] in 1972, Reed said he wrote the lyrics while working as a songwriter for [[Pickwick Records]], a budget label that mostly released inexpensive [[Sound-alike|sound-alikes]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-03 |title=The Primitives at Pickwick Records |url=https://dsps.lib.uiowa.edu/downtownpopunderground/story/the-primitives-at-pickwick-records/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=The Downtown Pop Underground |language=en}}</ref>

{{quote|I was working for a record company as a songwriter, where they'd lock me in a room and they'd say write ten [[surf rock|surfing songs]], ya know, and I wrote "Heroin" and I said "Hey I got something for ya." They said, "Never gonna happen, never gonna happen."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1ITJwjjws |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/iZ1ITJwjjws |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|title=Lou Reed - Interview BEST LIVE (NYC '72)|last=san sa|date=2 April 2015|access-date=27 June 2019|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>}}

"Heroin" was one of three songs on ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' (along with "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]" and "[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]") that were re-recorded at [[TTG Studios]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] following the initial recording sessions in New York. This recording of the song is the second-longest track on the album, at 7 minutes and 12 seconds long; "[[European Son]]" is 30 seconds longer.

"Heroin" begins slowly with Reed's quiet, melodic guitar, [[Sterling Morrison]]'s rhythm guitar, and drum patterns by [[Maureen Tucker]], soon joined by [[John Cale]]'s droning [[viola|electric viola]]. The [[tempo]] increases gradually, until a [[Dynamics (music)#Changes|crescendo]], punctuated by bow scratching and [[Audio feedback|feedback]] from Cale's viola and louder, more regular strumming by Reed and Morrison. Tucker's drumming becomes faster and louder. The song then slows to the original tempo, and repeats the same pattern before ending.

The song is based on a [[Plagal Cadence|plagal]] progression of D♭ and G♭ [[major chord]]s (I and IV in the key of D♭ major). Like the band's later song "[[Sister Ray]]", it features no [[bass guitar]] part, with both Reed and Morrison playing guitar. In reference to the song's use of only two chords, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' remarked that "it doesn't take much to make a great song."

Tucker stopped drumming for several seconds at the 5:17 mark, before re-entering. She explains:
{{quote|As soon as it got loud and fast, I couldn't hear anything.  I couldn't hear anybody, so I stopped, assuming, well, they'll stop too and say "what's the matter, Moe?" [laughs] But nobody stopped.  And then, you know, so I came back in.<ref>{{cite AV media|year=2006 |title=The Velvet Underground: Under Review |medium=Motion picture |url=https://www.amazon.com/Velvet-Underground-Under-Review/dp/B000ENUL8E }}</ref>}}

==Personnel==
* [[Lou Reed]] – [[lead vocals]], [[lead guitar]]
* [[John Cale]] – [[electric viola]]
* [[Sterling Morrison]] – [[rhythm guitar]]
* [[Maureen Tucker]] – [[percussion]]

==Alternative versions==

===Pickwick Records, May 1965===
The earliest recorded version of "Heroin" was a solo demo by [[Lou Reed]]. This demo was recorded in May 1965 while he was working for Pickwick and subsequently mailed to himself. The recording was rediscovered in 2022 by Reed's widow [[Laurie Anderson]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.spin.com/2022/07/lou-reed-earliest-demo-velvet-underground-heroin/ | title=Hear Lou Reed's Earliest Demo of the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin' | date=18 July 2022 }}</ref>

===Ludlow Street Loft, July 1965===
Another version of "Heroin" was with [[Lou Reed]], [[Sterling Morrison]] and [[John Cale]] at the band's [[Ludlow Street]] loft in July 1965. Unlike versions of songs such as "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]" and "[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]" from the same session, which sound drastically different from how they would on ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'', this version of "Heroin" is nearly identical to the album version in structure. On the recording, Reed performs the song on an [[acoustic guitar]]. This version of the song can be found on the 1995 [[compilation album]] ''[[Peel Slowly and See]]''.

===Scepter Studios, April 1966===
The original take of "Heroin" that was intended for release on ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' was at [[Scepter Studios]] in [[New York City]], April 1966. This version of the song features slightly different lyrics, a faster tempo, and a more contained, less chaotic performance. It is about a minute shorter.

One notable difference in the lyrics is Lou Reed's opening—he sings "I know just where I'm going" rather than "I ''don't'' know just where I'm going" as on the final album recording. Reed sometimes sang the earlier lyric while performing the song live.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Cannon
 | first = Geoffrey
 |date=March 1971
 | title = The Insects of Someone Else's Thoughts
 | journal = Zigzag
 | issue = 18
 }}</ref>

==Controversy==
"Heroin" (along with songs like "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]") tied the Velvet Underground with drug use in the media. Some critics accused the band of glorifying drugs use.<ref name="All Yesterday's Parties">{{cite book |editor1-first= Clinton |editor1-last= Heylin |editor1-link= Clinton Heylin |title= All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966–1971 |edition=First |year= 2005 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=0-306-81477-3 |page= / 138 |url= https://archive.org/details/allyesterdayspar00heyl }}</ref> However, members of the band (Reed, in particular) frequently denied any claims that the song was advocating use of the drug. Reed's lyrics, such as they are on the majority of ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'', were more meant to focus on providing an objective description of the topic without taking a moral stance.<ref name="Allmusic"/><ref name="33 1/3">{{cite book |last=Harvard |first=Joe |title=''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' |orig-year=2004 |series=[[33⅓]] |year=2007 |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-8264-1550-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/velvetundergroun00harv }}</ref> Critics were not the only ones who misunderstood the song's neutral tone; fans would sometimes approach the band members after a live performance and tell them they "shot up to 'Heroin{{'"}},<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bangs |first= Lester |author-link=Lester Bangs |date=May 1971 | title = Dead Lie The Velvets, Underground | journal = [[Creem]] | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | quote = I meant those songs to sort of exorcise the darkness, or the self-destructive element in me, and hoped other people would take them the same way. But when I saw how people were responding to them it was disturbing. Because like people would come up and say, 'I shot up to "Heroin,{{"'}} things like that. For a while, I was even thinking that some of my songs might have contributed formatively to the consciousness of all these addictions and things going down with the kids today. But I don't think that anymore; it's really too awful a thing to consider.}}</ref> a phenomenon that deeply disturbed Reed. As a result, Reed was somewhat hesitant to play the song with the band through much of the band's later career.<ref name="All Yesterday's Parties"/>

==Billy Idol version==
{{Infobox song
| name          = Heroin
| cover         = Billy Idol - Heroin.jpg
| alt           = 
| type          = single
| artist        = [[Billy Idol]]
| album         = [[Cyberpunk (album)|Cyberpunk]]
| released      = {{Start date|1993|05|04}} (U.S.)
| recorded      = 1992, Los Angeles
| studio        = 
| venue         = 
| genre         = * [[Electronic rock]]
* [[techno]]
| length        = 
| label         = [[Chrysalis Records|Chrysalis]]
| writer        = [[Lou Reed]]
| producer      = Robin Hancock
| prev_title    = [[Prodigal Blues]]
| prev_year     = 1990
| next_title    = [[Shock to the System (Billy Idol song)|Shock to the System]]
| next_year     = 1993
| misc          = {{Audio sample
 | type = single
 | file = Billy Idol - Heroin.ogg
}}
}}

[[Billy Idol]] covered the song on his 1993 album ''[[Cyberpunk (album)|Cyberpunk]]''. His cover interpreted the song as a fast-tempo dance track, which made use of [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] and [[techno]] beats. It also included the lyric "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine", from [[Patti Smith]]'s version of "[[Gloria (Them song)|Gloria]]". Idol told ''[[Cash Box (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' in 1993, "I was listening to some stripped-down rhythm tracks and started singing the lyrics [to "Heroin"] on top of it. It sounded like it really worked. Then I started tossing in the old Patti Smith line as a chorus. It really sounded heavy."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1993/CB-1993-06-19.pdf |title=Billy Idol: The Rebel Yells Again |last=Gold |first=Sue |magazine=[[Cash Box (magazine)|Cash Box]] |volume=56 |issue=41 |page=9 |date=June 19, 1993 |via=World Radio History |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref>

Idol mixed eleven versions of "Heroin", releasing them on various [[Single (music)|singles]] with some containing previous hits. Six computer-manipulated mixes were produced for the song's [[music video]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1993/BB-1993-05-22.pdf |title=Interactivity spurs different views |last=Bessman |first=Jim |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |volume=105 |issue=19 |page=76 |date=May 22, 1993 |via=World Radio History |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref> One of these videos was later released on a video with his follow-up single "[[Shock to the System (Billy Idol song)|Shock to the System]]".

===Reception===
[[Larry Flick]], writing for ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', described Idol's version as a "clench-toothed reading of the Velvet Underground classic" with the use of Smith's "Gloria" adding a "spooky incantation". He added that while Idol's rock following "may grimace at his rave musings", the artist's "penchant for caustic sounds and frenetic rhythms makes this track ring remarkably true".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1993/BB-1993-05-15.pdf |title=Single Reviews |last=Flick |first=Larry |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |volume=105 |issue=20 |page=84 |date=May 15, 1993 |via=World Radio History |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref> In contrast, [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] called it "one of the worst covers ever recorded" in his review of [[Cyberpunk (album)|''Cyberpunk'']].<ref>[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r183477|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]</ref>

===Charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1993)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|align="left"|US ''Billboard'' [[Hot Dance Club Play]]<ref>singles chart</ref>
|align="center"|16
|-
|}

==Other cover versions==
* The song has been covered by several artists, including [[Mazzy Star]], [[Human Drama]], [[Echo & the Bunnymen]], [[Roky Erickson]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/08/full-albums-the-velvet-underground-nico.html |title=Full Albums: The Velvet Underground & Nico » Cover Me |date=5 August 2010 |publisher=Covermesongs.com |access-date=2012-01-10}}</ref> and [[Third Eye Blind]].{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* [[Lou Reed]] later performed "Heroin" live in his [[glam rock]] style, featuring the guitarists [[Steve Hunter]] and [[Dick Wagner]]. A recording of this arrangement appears on his 1974 live album ''[[Rock 'n' Roll Animal]].''
* [[Pere Ubu]] performed "Heroin" live with [[Peter Laughner]] on vocals, a recording of which was released on the archival live album ''[[The Shape of Things (album)|The Shape of Things]]'' in 2000.

==References in popular culture==
* [[Denis Johnson]]'s short story collection ''[[Jesus' Son (short story collection)|Jesus' Son]]'', and the [[Jesus' Son (film)|film based on it]] took its title from the lyrics of this song.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-17892-5|title=Fiction Book Review: Jesus' Son: Stories by Denis Johnson|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref>
* In Irvine Welsh's novel ''[[Trainspotting (novel)|Trainspotting]]'', the central character Mark Renton describes playing the ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' version of "Heroin" instead of the original as "breaking the junkie's golden rule".
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* "[http://www.clipland.com/Summary/944433251/ Heroin]", on the Clipland database.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080926002741/http://www.singingfool.com/Title.aspx?publishedid=315313 "Heroin"] <small>(V.R. Heroin mix)</small>, [[Chrysalis Records]], ''SingingFool''.

{{The Velvet Underground}}
{{The Velvet Underground and Nico}}
{{Billy Idol}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:The Velvet Underground songs]]
[[Category:1966 songs]]
[[Category:Experimental rock songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Lou Reed]]
[[Category:Songs about drugs]]
[[Category:Songs about heroin]]
[[Category:1993 singles]]
[[Category:Billy Idol songs]]