Songfacts®:

• Written by group leader Lou Reed, this song is about Andy Warhol and the intriguing people he surrounded himself with ("Warhol's Factory"). Reed was good friends with Warhol, and they shared similar artistic sensibilities.
• This was one of 3 songs on The Velvet Underground & Nico that Nico sang lead on. She also recorded it as a solo artist and included it in her live shows. Other artists who have covered the song include Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Simple Minds. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2
• According to The Velvet Underground: An Illustrated History of a Walk on the Wild Side, at the time of recording this song, The Velvet Underground and Nico, as part of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, were appearing at the Dom building (a Polish dance hall) at 23 St. Mark's Place in the East Village. It was co-rented by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, the latter also managing the band. For appearing here live, each of the Velvets received a mere five dollars wages per day!
• This is reportedly Andy Warhol's favorite Velvet Underground song, though probably more for having Nico (born Christa Päffgen) sing the lead than Velvet Underground's part in it. It was about a 50/50 shot whether flyers and posters for Exploding Plastic Inevitable performances around this time would have Nico's name before Velvet Underground's - with Nico sometimes billed as "pop girl of '66." In the pages of the Village Voice, rock critic Richard Goldstein called Nico "half goddess, half icicle," and reviewed her, saying "She sings in perfect mellow ovals. It sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning."
• If Moe Tucker's drumming sounds a little mechanical here, consider that her previous job was working as a keypunch operator for IBM. As Lou Reed once said, "There are two kinds of drummers - Moe Tucker and everybody else."
• This song title was used as the name for season 3's episode 13 of One Tree Hill. In this episode it shows three different examples of how alcohol and parties and glamourous lifestyles can causes so much pain and trauma and emptiness. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Jo - Chester, United Kingdom
• William Gibson used the title for one of his novels.