The Velvet Underground song Lou Reed always doubted
Every single rock and roll classic usually began as a work in progress. No one can claim to come in with a perfect song out of the blue, and it usually takes a small army of musicians and producers to take a track from a great idea into a sweeping epic by the time they walk out of the building. Although Lou Reed was constantly restructuring how he put songs together with The Velvet Underground, he admitted one of their greatest tunes never sounded complete in his mind.
Granted, nothing about The Velvet Underground was meant to sound pretty from the get-go. Whereas most bands were still singing about putting flowers in their hair and venturing to San Francisco, Reed was more interested in what was going on in the seedy street life of his native New York, immersing himself in the avant-garde scene and getting into the lives of shady characters.
It would be those influences that popularised the band’s greatest material, including songs about engaging in bondage roles on ‘Venus in Furs’ and waiting for a drug deal to drop off their product on ‘I’m Waiting for The Man’. Although the latter song was one of the most disturbing singles of the era, Reed would find himself toying with the sounds of mainstream rock later in the group’s career.
After going through different lineup changes, Reed ended up folding the band after the experience of making the album Loaded. Instead of catering to their art-rock soundscapes, the band’s fourth effort was the first time they attempted making something that sounded like pop-rock, including Reed’s celebration of the genre on ‘Rock and Roll’ and the mellow psychedelic sunshine of ‘Who Loves the Sun’.
If there were any song that became classic from this era, though, ‘Sweet Jane’ would be it. Having a bouncy rhythm and a pop-flavoured chord progression, Reed gives one of his finest performances as the rest of the band do their best backing vocals behind him. While many got to hear the song as one of the final salvos of the band’s career, one piece of the puzzle was missing from the final piece.
Although most of the song wraps up just over three minutes, Reed initially wanted to include a coda that would help tie up the relationship story better. Instead of going with his wishes, the record company figured they could earn more time on the radio by cutting it out, leading to them doing away with the coda.
Not having a proper resolution to the story would frustrate Reed to no end, eventually remarking to Rolling Stone, “How could anyone be that stupid? If I could have stood it, I would have stayed with them and showed them what to do”. Although he didn’t get his way in the studio, Reed thought he might try to make the most of it on the live stage.
Among the various live albums The Velvet Underground released afterwards, Reed would sing ‘Sweet Jane’ with the original lyrics intact, bringing the song to a better resolution than feeling open-ended in the studio. Every label may want their artists to compromise to suit their vision, but by releasing the single with the coda chopped off, they ended up removing the entire identity of the song.
