Who was The Velvet Underground’s ‘Femme Fatale’?
Most would dream about having a song called Femme Fatale written about them. But when that song is as passive-aggressive as The Velvet Underground’s, perhaps not.
Featuring on the band’s debut and undeniably most iconic album, the track ‘Femme Fatale’ sits in pride of place on The Velvet Underground & Nico. The 11-track run is pure gold that not only launched Lou Reed as a fascinating and fearless creative with adventurous tracks like ‘European Son’ and ‘Heroin’, but with Nico on vocals, it also indoctrinated the band into the world of the superstars, thanks to Andy Warhol’s help.
The pop artist did a lot for them back then. Not only did he give the album its famed banana cover, making it one of the most recognisable albums ever made, as that print has graced t-shirts, tote bags, posters, mugs, and pretty much anything an image can grace. But at the time the band were making this record, Warhol was their manager. After meeting through a mutual friend, it became clear that the artist had been wanting to expand his empire beyond films and canvases. He wanted to be a full-on multi-media mogul, and in Reed and the boys, he saw a way to do that.
Helping them secure a record deal with MGM’s Verve Records, he also played a huge role in ensure that deal meant that they kept full creative control over their sound, using his influence to legally put himself in the role of producer but handing over all the reigns to the group. He did, however, make one creative call.
His one demand was this – there had to be a new member. As his newest obsession and superstar, Warhol made the band bring Nico into the fold as he wanted to platform the German singer too. However, there’s forever been a question of whether that decision was more sinister, and whether ‘Femme Fatale’ was part of a crueller plan too.
Who is ‘Femme Fatale’ about?
“Oh, don’t you think she’s a femme fatale, Lou?” Andy Warhol once drawled to Lou Reed. You can hear the tone of voice in your head, even imagine the scene as the two men stared at one person in particular – Edie Sedgwick.
Long before Nico, Sedgwick was Warhol’s ultimate muse. She was the ‘Poor Little Rich Girl’ he was utterly obsessed with, taking photos of her, making films about her, bringing her everywhere he went, but ultimately, exploiting her. For a while, when Warhol was first involved with the Velvets, there was even talk of Sedgwick joining the band, appearing on stage as a few of their early shows with a tambourine or simply just to dance.
However, just as the lyrics of the track get darker and more insulting as it goes on, the reality of Warhol’s obsession with Segwick followed the same path. As time went on and the muse struggled more and more with her mental health and spiralled further into addiction, which in turn spiralled her into financial ruin, it became clear that Warhol was more obsessed with witnessing her downfall than helping her. By 1966, the two had fallen out, and Sedgwick was ousted from the Factory scene. That’s when Warhol switched focus to Nico. It’s also around the time that Warhol encouraged Lou Reed to record this song and put it on their debut.
Moving in hyper speed between cruel insults and somewhat compliments, the track reflects Warhol’s own idea of Sedgwick as the ‘Femme Fatale’ in the song is an object of obsession or even a sexualised object to play with for fun, but ultimately, she’s not respected.
To make matters even worse, before joining the group, Nico had been romantically connected to Bob Dylan, who was another cause in the falling out between Sedgwick and Warhol. So, adding insult to injury, ‘Femme Fatale’ becomes a cruel song about Sedgwick, written by former friends, and sung by her ex-lover’s ex. Rough.
