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Cover of Loaded by The Velvet Underground
Cover: Loaded

Song · The Velvet Underground

“Sweet Jane” by The Velvet Underground

From the album Loaded (1970)

“Sweet Jane” by The Velvet Underground appears on 38 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 1990 and 2026. It was first released in 1970 on the album Loaded. Its best result is #24 on The End Top 107 Resurrection Songs (December 2006). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #524 alternative song of all time.

38countdowns
14stations
#24best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1990–2026years charted

Watch

Sweet Jane (Full Length Version) (2015 Remaster)

Video from YouTube (The Velvet Underground - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Sweet Jane" is the Velvet Underground at their most open-hearted, the Lou Reed song that sits on their fourth studio album, Loaded, released by Atlantic in 1970. Reed, the band's leader and main songwriter, wrote it and sings it, and he and Sterling Morrison work their electric guitars around a chiming, circular riff that feels like it could run forever, with Doug Yule on bass and drums. Geoffrey Haslam and Shel Kagan produced, with Haslam and Adrian Barber engineering.

It's a tender, shambling thing set to one of rock's great chord patterns, with Reed's cool drawl warmed right through. The version most people knew for years wasn't the whole thing, though: the original release of Loaded cut the song's bridge, and it took the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See and the Loaded: Fully Loaded Edition reissue to put it back.

Reed never let it go. He kept it in his live shows after he left the band, and it turns up on a long list of live records and collections, from Live at Max's Kansas City and 1969: The Velvet Underground Live to Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Live: Take No Prisoners.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1990 66 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1990) 100
1991 293 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1996 313 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1999 984 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 199 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 299 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1844 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 46 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 56 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) 885
2005 80 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 45 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 101 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2006 24 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Resurrection Songs (December 2006) 107
2007 581 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 58 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 554 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 558 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 164 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2009 114 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2010 572 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 572 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 149 WYEP WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown 500
2013 590 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 603 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 119 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2018 388 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 283 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 106 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2020 187 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2022 389 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2023 632 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 251 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2026 440 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

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