Song · The Velvet Underground
“Heroin” by The Velvet Underground
From the album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
“Heroin” by The Velvet Underground appears on 12 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1991 and 2020. It was first released in 1967 on the album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Its best result is #42 on the John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (2000). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,740 alternative song of all time.
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Lou Reed wrote "Heroin" in 1964, three years before it surfaced on The Velvet Underground & Nico, and it stares at the drug without blinking. Andy Warhol takes the producer credit, but the sound belongs to the band: a slow, droning pulse that creeps, quickens into a frenzy and then sags again, tracing the rush and the aftermath of the needle in real time.
The unsettling part is the stance. The song neither sells the high nor preaches against it, as AllMusic's Mark Deming has pointed out, and that refusal to pick a side is exactly what left so many listeners disturbed. It has since become one of the band's most celebrated songs, and Rolling Stone placed it at 448 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 957 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 2000 | 42 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (2000) | 50 |
| 2001 | 1804 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2002 | 778 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1200 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 497 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2005 | 479 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) | 500 |
| 2007 | 773 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 314 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2014 | 473 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 550 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 427 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
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