“Venus In Furs” by The Velvet Underground

Lou Reed wrote "Venus in Furs" by himself and took its title and its obsessions from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel, and on The Velvet Underground & Nico, the band's 1967 debut, it drags sadomasochism and bondage into the light with a straight face. It was one of three songs the band cut again in May 1966 at TTG Studios in Hollywood before the album's final mix, alongside "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man".

The sound is a narcotic ritual. John Cale saws at an electric viola, Reed's electric guitar is detuned to D G C F A C, and Maureen Tucker keeps a creeping pulse of two bass-drum beats and a tambourine hit. Sterling Morrison played bass here instead of Cale, the band's usual bassist, though Cale says Morrison never much liked it. Andy Warhol is credited as producer.

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