Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)
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"Heroin" is a song by The Velvet Underground, released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964, the song, which overtly depicts heroin use and abuse, is one of the band's most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming writes, "While 'Heroin' hardly endorses drug use, it doesn't clearly condemn it, either, which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners".
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it #455 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
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References in popular culture
- Denis Johnson's short story collection Jesus' Son, and the film based on it took its title from the lyrics of this song.
- The song has featured in several movies, including The Doors and Killing Them Softly. It has also appeared in television shows, such as Misfits and Brotherhood.
- According to Mick Jagger, the Beggar's Banquet track "Stray Cat Blues" by The Rolling Stones was inspired by "Heroin",
- In Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, the central character Mark Renton describes playing the "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" version of 'Heroin' instead of the original "The Velvet Underground & Nico" as 'breaking the junkie's golden rule'.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
