Rock In My World

The Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs Psychedelic Sunday has been a weekly feature in my blog for just over two years, but I didn't spotlight anything from The Velvet Underground until November of 2007. What was I smokin'? Each of the eleven songs included on that album deserves a separate post! Venus In Furs is the fourth song on The Velvet Underground & Nico, a groundbreaking 1967debut album from the band. The song was written by Lou Reed with inspiration from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's book of the same name. I've never read the book, but apparently it's about kinky stuff like bondage and sadomasochism. Mistress Nat would approve. Originally recorded by band members Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison in their NYC loft in July 1965, the song was rearranged for the album cut, and, according to rock critic David Fricke, the final version is a "stark, Olde English-style folk lament." To be sure, the tempo is rather dirge-like, and the lyrics contain masochism references (shiny, shiny, shiny boots