SONGWRITER'S ANATOMY CLASS: "Sunday Morning"
Velvet Underground's dark lullaby
SONGWRITER’S ANATOMY CLASS—STUDIES IN SONG CRAFT: Today’s sample is “Sunday Morning” by Velvet Underground. In their day VU were not commercially successful but they are now regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of rock. Brian Eno said that everyone who heard the first VU album wanted to start a band. The driving force of VU was creative provocateur, poet, and singer-songwriter Lou Reed. He was the principal song crafter for VU and his solo career spanned 5 decades.
He had a deadpan voice that, for me, required forgiveness as singers go (though he did step up on occasion, particularly when he sung with The Blind Boys on THE RAVEN album). Eventually I connected with his noir fictional, transgressive “eyewitness reporting” lyrics and songcraft. He neither approved or disapproved of the subjects he sang about, and, in the end, he just wanted to write catchy rock’n’roll.
VU first recorded “Sunday Morning” in late 1966. Their goal was to tailor a hit single. Instead, they created a dark lullaby with a near-gospel message about the world versus spirit.
John Cale and Lou Reed wrote the song in a classic pop template that could’ve suited The Monkees, The Turtles, or any number of pop acts of the day. On impulse, Cale added celesta, heightening the lullaby feel of the song—which opened one of rock music’s most influential albums, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO.
It’s challenging to imagine that Nico originally tried a Teutonic lead vocal on “Sunday Morning” but Reed took over with his dreamy, off-key delivery.
In my remake I sought to retain the etherealness of the original while going into a jangly ambient pop mode with vocal harmonies, thick guitars, subtle keyboards, and Brian Wilson-style percussion.
The studio musicians on my take are 3/5ths of The Badlees—Bret Alexander, Ron Simasek, Paul Smith—a.k.a. The Cellarbirds. I’d already been playing this song in my solo acoustic concerts, but these Badlees-Cellarbirds cats took it to a higher place. It was a relaxed recording session, and the track has gotten a lot of mileage. Over the years I’ve performed at least 6 Reed/VU songs—recording two: “What Goes On” and “Sunday Morning.” Reed himself commended our cover and promoted it on his website in 2006. Thanks Lou (and RIP).
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