The Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror

The Velvet Underground and Nico

Studio album by The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground and Nico is the debut album by experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and vocal collaborator Nico. It was originally released in March 1967 by Verve Records, a subsidiary of MGM Records.

Recorded in 1966 during Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia event tour, The Velvet Underground and Nico would gain notoriety for its experimentalist performance sensibilities, as well as its focus on controversial subject matter in songs such as "Heroin".

Though largely ignored upon its release, it has since become one of the most influential and critically lauded rock albums in history, appearing as #13 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time[1] as well as being added to the 2006 National Recording Registry by the Librarian of Congress.

The Velvet Underground and Nico is sometimes referred to as the "banana album" as it features a Warhol print of a banana on the cover. Early copies of the album invited the owner to "Peel slowly and see"; peeling back the banana skin revealed a flesh-colored banana underneath. A special machine was needed to manufacture these covers (one of the causes of the album's delayed release), but MGM paid for costs figuring that any ties to Warhol would boost sales of the album.[6][3]

On the 1996 CD reissue, the banana image is on the front cover while the image of the peeled banana is on the inside of the jewel case, beneath the CD itself.

Much of the album's sound was conceived by John Cale, who stressed the experimental qualities of the band. Cale, who was influenced greatly by his work with La Monte Young, John Cage and the early Fluxus movement, encouraged the use of alternative ways of producing sound in music. Cale thought his sensibilities meshed well with Lou Reed's, who was already experimenting with alternative tunings. For instance, Reed had "invented" the ostrich guitar tuning for a song he wrote called "The Ostrich" for the short-lived band The Primitives. Ostrich guitar tuning consists of all strings being tuned to the same note. The method was utilized on songs "Venus in Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties". Often, the guitars were also tuned down a whole step, which produced a lower, fuller sound that Cale called "sexy".

Track History: "I'll Be Your Mirror" is a song by The Velvet Underground. It appeared on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground and Nico. It also surfaced as a single a year earlier with "All Tomorrow's Parties" in 1966.

Lou Reed wrote the song for Nico, who provides lead vocals. Inspiration for the song apparently came about after Nico approached Reed after a show in 1965 saying, "Oh Lou, I'll be your mirror." "I'll Be Your Mirror" was the most difficult for Nico to record, as the band wanted her to provide slender, delicate vocals for the song, yet she would sing louder, more aggressive vocals take after take. Sterling Morrison described the ordeal in an interview:

She kept singing "I'll Be Your Mirror" in her strident voice. Dissatisfied, we kept making her do it over and over again until she broke down and burst into tears. At that point we said, "Oh, try it just one more time and then fuck it — if it doesn't work this time, we're not going to do the song." Nico sat down and did it exactly right.
The members of the band enjoyed her particular performance on the song so much that after she left the band in late 1967, live vocals for the song were done imitating Nico's accent.

Lyrics: Ill be your mirror
Reflect what you are, in case you dont know
Ill be the wind, the rain and the sunset
The light on your door to show that youre home

When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside youre twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind
Please put down your hands
cause I see you

I find it hard to believe you dont know
The beauty that you are
But if you dont let me be your eyes
A hand in your darkness, so you wont be afraid

When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside youre twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind
Please put down your hands
cause I see you

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The
• Velvet
• Underground
• 1966
• 1967
• Andy
• Warhol
• Lou
• Reed
• Banana
• Album
• Nico
• Rock

[KineticRic]

I dont know why, but for the past month I wake up with this song in my head.

Thats a good thing though. I couldn't live without BU!

[louiseduvee]

Oh thank god(s) I found this! YouTube needs more Reed & company. I subscribed!

[1878manc1]

Leave me to be your mirror when you think the night has seen your mind,

to be the light on your door

ILY

[bzephyrene]

i don't understand why they had to cut it short? the best bit is at the end

[Mithyus]

Lou played this as an encore on his Metal Machine Music-based performance at Brasil... to soothe anyone's heart.

[kimmois1]

@paddypippit Not even anal?

[SeanKaluarachchi]

Hey folks check my version of this song on my channel, obviously nothing beats the original but give it a chance!

[Barmyandlight]

This is my favorite love song. True, it isn't specifically about a romance, but then again not all love is romance.

I'm in love with a woman right now, and though I'm not sure if she returns my feelings, she is like my mirror. She is so similar to me, and when loving her I have to love myself too, because I look in the mirror when I see her. Sorry if this is TMI, but this song describes my understanding of love.

[eightyeightthousand]

@cowofthemonth i think thats what i like

[Bluestatedad]

Just heard this song as music over the final credits of the new

Bill Cunningham documentary. This beautiful song was the

perfect ending to a beautiful film.

[paddypippit]

nothing describes better the way i love my girl ..