HEROIN - the Velvet Underground - classic version 1966
Heroin Lyrics
(Reed)
I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same
When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know
I have made the big decision
I'm gonna try to nullify my life
'Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death
And you can't help me now, you guys
And all you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know
I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sail the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
In a sailor's suit and cap
Away from the big city
Where a man can not be free
Of all of the evils of this town
And of himself, and those around
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know
Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I'm better off and dead
Because when the smack begins to flow
I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jim's in this town
And all the politicians makin' crazy sounds
And everybody puttin' everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds
'Cause when the smack begins to flow
Then I really don't care anymore
Ah, when the heroin is in my blood
And that blood is in my head
Then thank God that I'm as good as dead
Then thank your God that I'm not aware
And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know
You can all go take a walk
Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)
"Heroin" | |
---|---|
Song by the Velvet Underground | |
from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
Released | March 12, 1967 |
Recorded | May 1966 |
Studio | T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, California |
Genre | Experimental rock[1] |
Length | 7:12 |
Label | Verve |
Songwriter(s) | Lou Reed |
Producer(s) | Andy Warhol |
Contents
[hide]Writing and recording[edit]
Personnel[edit]
- Lou Reed – lead vocals, lead guitar
- John Cale – electric viola
- Sterling Morrison – rhythm guitar
- Maureen Tucker – percussion
Alternative versions[edit]
Ludlow Street Loft, July 1965[edit]
Scepter Studios, April 1966[edit]
The Velvet Underground and drugs[edit]
Billy Idol version[edit]
"Heroin" | ||||
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Single by Billy Idol | ||||
from the album Cyberpunk | ||||
Released | May 4, 1993 (U.S.) | |||
Format | CD single, 12-inch single | |||
Recorded | 1992, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Electronic rock, techno | |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lou Reed | |||
Producer(s) | Robin Hancock | |||
Billy Idol singles chronology | ||||
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Cyberpunk track listing | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
Charts[edit]
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[9] | 16 |
Reception[edit]
Other cover versions[edit]
- The song has been covered by several artists, including Mazzy Star, Human Drama, Iggy Pop, Echo & the Bunnymen, Roky Erickson,[11] and Third Eye Blind.
- Lou Reed later performed "Heroin" live in his glam rock style, featuring the guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner. The resulting thirteen-minute track is included on his live album Rock 'n' Roll Animal, released in 1974.
- Brian Bell and Patrick Wilson from Weezer covered the song.
- Električni Orgazam's lead vocalist, Srđan Gojković, recorded a cover version of the song for an art exhibition of Andy Warhol's works at the Modern Arts Museum in Zagreb, released in 2008 on his compilation Muzika za film, TV i muzej
- Classical composer David Lang arranged the song for voice and cello
References in popular culture[edit]
- Featured in the Supernatural episode "Blade Runners" when Crowley is seen injecting human blood.
- Denis Johnson's short story collection Jesus' Son, and the film based on it took its title from the lyrics of this song.
- The song has featured in several movies, including The Doors and Killing Them Softly. It has also appeared in television shows, such as Misfits and Brotherhood.
- According to Mick Jagger, the Beggar's Banquet track "Stray Cat Blues" by the Rolling Stones was inspired by "Heroin".
- In Irvine Welsh's 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'.
References[edit]
- ^ Zak, Albin (2000). The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0028646275. Retrieved 1 March2014.
- ^ ab "Heroin" at Allmusic
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1ITJwjjws
- ^ The Velvet Underground: Under Review (Motion picture). 2006.
- ^ Cannon, Geoffrey (March 1971). "The Insects of Someone Else's Thoughts". Zigzag (18).
- ^ ab Heylin, Clinton, ed. (2005). All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966–1971 (first ed.). United States: Da Capo Press. p. / 138. ISBN 0-306-81477-3.
- ^ Harvard, Joe (2007) [2004]. The Velvet Underground & Nico. 33⅓. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-1550-4.
- ^ Bangs, Lester (May 1971). "Dead Lie The Velvets, Underground". Creem. 3(2).
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. (Lou Reed)
- ^ singles chart
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "Full Albums: The Velvet Underground & Nico » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
External links[edit]
- "Heroin", on the Clipland database.
- "Heroin" (V.R. Heroin mix), Chrysalis Records, SingingFool.