European Son
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| "European Son" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Velvet Underground | |
| from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico | |
| Released | March 12, 1967 |
| Recorded | April 1966 |
| Studio | Scepter, New York City[1] |
| Genre | |
| Length | 7:46 |
| Label | Verve |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Andy Warhol |
"European Son", also known as "European Son (to Delmore Schwartz)", is a song written and performed by the American experimental rock band The Velvet Underground. It appears as the final track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It is also the album's longest track at more than seven and a half minutes.
The song could be seen as a precursor to the band's next album White Light/White Heat and to the song "Sister Ray", a seventeen-minute-long rock improvisation.
Composition
[edit]"European Son" is dedicated to poet Delmore Schwartz, who had been Lou Reed's advisor at Syracuse University. Wanting to dedicate a song to Schwartz, "European Son" was chosen because it had the fewest lyrics, as Schwartz made his distaste for rock lyrics clear.[4] The first pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico referred to the song as "European Son (to Delmore Schwartz)".[5]
The song was recorded in April 1966; Schwartz died alone in Manhattan three months later, on July 14. According to musicologist Richard Witts, the song "reads like little more than a song of loathing" to Schwartz, who refused to see Reed while living out his last days in seclusion in Midtown Manhattan. Witts highlighted obscure personal details in lyrics such as "You made your wallpapers green", and found the "Dylanesque" "hey, hey, bye bye bye" refrain "a malicious farewell to its subject".[6]
Recording
[edit]The song begins with two stanzas of lyrics sung by Lou Reed over a D major chord played by Reed and Sterling Morrison and a walking bassline played by John Cale; about one minute later, a loud crashing sound produced by Cale hitting a stack of plates with a metal chair is heard.[4] Six minutes of instrumental improvisation, making extensive use of distortion and feedback, follow.[7][8]
Personnel
[edit]- Lou Reed – vocals, electric guitar, sound effects
- John Cale – bass guitar, sound effects
- Sterling Morrison – electric guitar
- Maureen Tucker – percussion
Covers
[edit]- Half Japanese on their 1984 album Our Solar System
- Thurston Moore on the 1988 compilation album The End of Music as We Know It[9]
- Gary Lucas on his 2000 album Street of Lost Brothers[10]
- Iggy Pop and Matt Sweeney on the 2021 compilation tribute album I'll Be Your Mirror[11][12]
Influence
[edit]"European Son" was an influence on the German krautrock band Can. Its influence can especially be heard on the song "Father Cannot Yell", the opening track of their 1969 debut album Monster Movie, in which bassist Holger Czukay plays a similar bassline.[13]
A slowed-down version of the song's bassline appears on "Moby Octopad" by Yo La Tengo.
Simple Minds recorded a song entitled "European Son" on a demo tape, which was released on CD on The Early Years: 1977–1978. The band Japan also recorded a song with the title "European Son". Both these bands titled the song in tribute to the Velvet Underground song, and have covered other songs by the band (both covering "All Tomorrow's Parties", for one), but neither "European Son" is a cover of the Velvet Underground song.
References
[edit]- ^ Discogs – Scepter Records (Manhattan) profile and discography
- ^ Carpenter, Troy. "The Velvet Underground Bio". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ^ J. DeRogatis, Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Milwaukie, Michigan: Hal Leonard, 2003), ISBN 0-634-05548-8, p. 80.
- ^ a b Harvard, Joe (2007) [2004]. The Velvet Underground & Nico. 33⅓. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 132 / 136. ISBN 978-0-8264-1550-9.
- ^ Clinton Heylin, ed. (2005). All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966-1971 (first ed.). United States: Da Capo Press. pp. 200, 251. ISBN 0-306-81477-3.
- ^ Witts, Richard (2006). The Velvet Underground. Indiana University Press. p. 63. ISBN 0253218322.
- ^ Rob., Jovanovic (27 March 2012). Seeing the light : inside the Velvet Underground (First U.S. ed.). New York. p. 101. ISBN 9781429942263. OCLC 861613624.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Jim., DeRogatis (2003). Turn on your mind : four decades of great psychedelic rock. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. p. 84. ISBN 0634055488. OCLC 52423927.
- ^ Kathleen C. Fennessy. "The End of Music as We Know It – Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
- ^ "Full Albums: The Velvet Underground & Nico » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
- ^ Moore, Sam (2021-09-10). "Listen to Iggy Pop and Matt Sweeney's reimagining of the Velvet Underground's 'European Son'". NME. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ "Iggy Pop takes on the Velvet Underground's 'European Son'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ Cope, Julian (1996) [1995]. Krautrocksampler. Yatesbury: Head Heritage. pp. 52–3. ISBN 0-9526719-1-3.
