Sister Ray

This article is about the song. For other uses, see Sister Ray (disambiguation).
"Sister Ray"
Song by the Velvet Underground
from the album White Light/White Heat
ReleasedJanuary 30, 1968 (1968-01-30)
RecordedSeptember 1967
StudioScepter, New York City
Genre
Length17:29
LabelVerve
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Lou Reed
Producer(s)Tom Wilson

"Sister Ray" is a song by the Velvet Underground that closes side two of their 1968 album White Light/White Heat. The lyrics are by Lou Reed, with music composed by John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker and Reed.

The song concerns drug use, violence, homosexuality, and transvestism. Reed said of the lyrics: "'Sister Ray' was done as a joke—no, not as a joke, but it has eight characters in it and this guy gets killed and nobody does anything. It was built around this story that I wrote about this scene of total debauchery and decay. I like to think of 'Sister Ray' as a transvestite smack dealer. The situation is a bunch of drag queens taking some sailors home with them, shooting up on smack and having this orgy when the police appear."[7][8] Lou Reed also stated "'Sister Ray' was about a gay dealer".[9]

At 17 minutes and 29 seconds, it is the longest song on White Light/White Heat, taking up most of the second side of the record, as well as the longest song in the Velvet Underground's studio discography.

Rock critic Lester Bangs wrote in 1970, "The early Velvets had the good sense to realize that whatever your capabilities, music with a simple base structure was the best. Thus, 'Sister Ray' evolved from a most basic funk riff seventeen minutes into stark sound structures of incredible complexity."[10]

  1. ^ a b Gentile, John (November 20, 2015). "Velvet Underground release 36 minute live version of "Sister Ray"". Punknews.org. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  2. ^ Beeber, Steven Lee (2006). The Heebie-jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-55652-613-8.
  3. ^ Gross, Joe (April 2007). "Essentials: Noise Rock". Spin. p. 94.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Maloney, Sean L. (2017). The Modern Lovers. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-1501322198.
  5. ^ Terich, Jeff (November 28, 2018). "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks". Stereogum. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  6. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (1 January 2003). Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Milwaukee, Minnesota: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-634-05548-5.
  7. ^ Bockris, Victor; Malanga, Gerard (1983). Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story. London, England: Omnibus Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-7119-0168-1.
  8. ^ Thompson, Dave (2009). Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Backbeat Books. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-87930-985-5.
  9. ^ Bloom, Howard (April 1973). "The Eerie Roots of Lou Reed's New Transformer". Circus Magazine. 7 (7): 48 – via The Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Bangs, Lester (1987). Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. p. 44. ISBN 0-394-53896-X.