Femme Fatale (song)

"Femme Fatale"
Single b/w "Sunday Morning"
Single by the Velvet Underground and Nico
from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico
A-side"Sunday Morning"
Released
  • December 1966 (1966-12) (single)
  • March 1967 (album)
RecordedApril 1966
StudioScepter,[1] New York City
Genre
Length2:35
LabelVerve
SongwriterLou Reed
ProducerAndy Warhol
The Velvet Underground and Nico singles chronology
"All Tomorrow's Parties" / "I'll Be Your Mirror"
(1966) 		"Femme Fatale" / "Sunday Morning"
(1966) 		"White Light/White Heat" / "Here She Comes Now"
(1968)

"Femme Fatale" is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground from their debut studio album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), with lead vocals by German singer Nico.[1]

Background

The song was composed in the key of C major.[4] At the request of Andy Warhol, band frontman Lou Reed wrote the song about Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick. According to Reed, the title was inspired by Warhol saying, about Sedgwick, "Oh, don't you think she's a femme fatale, Lou?"[5][6]

The song was recorded with vocals by Nico.[1] Guitarist Sterling Morrison said of the title:

[Nico] always hated that. Nico, whose native language is minority French, would say "The name of this song is 'Fahm Fatahl'." Lou and I would sing it our way. Nico hated that. I said, "Nico, hey, it's my title, I'll pronounce it my way".[7]

"Femme Fatale" was recorded at the Scepter Studios in New York in April 1966 while the studio was still under construction.[1][8] It was released as a B-Side to "Sunday Morning" in December 1966.[9] The following year it was included in their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. A 1969 live recording of the song was included in Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes released in 2001.[1]

Critical reception

AllMusic critic Mark Deming thought that "Femme Fatale" was among the four best songs on the album.[10] American music journalist Stephen Davis called "Femme Fatale" a beautiful song that portrays the vivid, conflicted and emotional undercurrents of 1966.[11]  

Personnel

Duran Duran version

"Femme Fatale"
Cover for the 1993 French single release
Song by Duran Duran
from the album Duran Duran
Released15 February 1993 (1993-02-15)
Recorded1992
Studio
GenreStadium rock
Length
  • 4:21
Label
SongwriterLou Reed
Producers
Music video
"Femme Fatale" on YouTube

"Femme Fatale" was covered by the English pop rock band Duran Duran for their seventh studio album, Duran Duran (1993), commonly known as The Wedding Album. Suggested by the guitarist Warren Cuccurullo's friend Frank Zappa, the recording has been described in varying terms, from "grand" and "atmospheric" to stadium rock and "dreamy". Although Capitol Records planned to release it as a single with an accompanying video directed by Ellen von Unwerth, the idea was abandoned after the preceding single "Too Much Information" underperformed, and was instead issued as a single in France in 1993. The cover was met with negative critical reception, with reviewers characterizing it as misjudged, unnecessary, and poorly executed.

Background and composition

Duran Duran recorded a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" in 1992, which, according to the author Steve Malins, was suggested by the guitarist Warren Cuccurullo's friend Frank Zappa. Their version has been described in a number of ways: Malins referred to it as a "grand, echoey version" and an "intriguingly atmospheric treatment", noting that it relocated the song's mood "from the icy, street hassle of New York into LA's glimmering Californian sunshine".[12] Stuart Maconie of Q described the cover as a stadium rock interpretation, while Annie Zaleski of Ultimate Classic Rock highlighted its "dreamy" qualities, writing that it added introspection to their seventh studio album Duran Duran (1993).[12][13]

Release and reception

Following the release of "Too Much Information" as a single, Capitol Records planned to issue "Femme Fatale" as the next single from Duran Duran, accompanied by a video directed by the photographer Ellen von Unwerth. According to Malins, this plan was abandoned after "Too Much Information" failed to gain significant radio momentum, which led to the single campaign being discontinued.[12] The song was, however, released as a single in France in 1993.[14]

"Femme Fatale" received negative reviews from critics. Stuart Maconie of Q described it as a "hideously misjudged stadium rock version" of the Velvet Underground song, contrasting it with what he considered stronger material on Duran Duran.[12] Paul Sinclair of SuperDeluxeEdition wrote that while the track was "pleasant enough", its inclusion on the album "seem[ed] totally pointless" and that it "really adds nothing".[15] Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly similarly criticised the cover, calling it a "breathtakingly clueless" interpretation.[16]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Duran Duran and John Jones. All tracks are written by Duran Duran except where noted.[14]

French CD single
No.TitleWriterLength
1."Femme Fatale"Lou Reed4:24
2."Fallen Angel" 4:35
3."Stop Dead" 4:32
Total length:13:31

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Inman, Davis (October 31, 2011). "The Velvet Underground And Nico, "Femme Fatale"". American Songwriter.
  2. ^ A. Zak (December 22, 2000). The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary. Music Sales Group. p. 78. ISBN 0-8256-7242-2.
  3. ^ Brett Milano (March 2, 2025). "Best Velvet Underground Songs: 20 Tracks That Dare You To Think Differently". uDiscover Music.
  4. ^ "Femme Fatale". Musicnotes. 10 October 2011.
  5. ^ Heatley, Michael; Hopkinson, Frank (2014). The Girl in the Song: The Real Stories Behind 50 Rock Classics. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-909396-88-3.
  6. ^ Bockris, Victor (1994). Transformer: The Lou Reed Story. New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 107. ISBN 0-684-80366-6. Andy said I should write a song about Edie Sedgwick. I said 'Like what?' and he said 'Oh, don't you think she's a femme fatale, Lou?' So I wrote 'Femme Fatale' and we gave it to Nico. (Lou Reed)
  7. ^ Harvard, Joe (2004). The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico. New York City: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 98–100. ISBN 978-0-8264-1550-9.
  8. ^ The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion. Canongate Books. 2007. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-84195-973-3.
  9. ^ Maximum Rock 'n' Roll. 1994.
  10. ^ Deming, Mark. "The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico". AllMusic.
  11. ^ Davis, Stephen (2005). Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend. New York City: Penguin Publishing Group. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-101-21827-3.
  12. ^ a b c d Malins 2013, chap. 10.
  13. ^ Zaleski, Annie (15 February 2023). "30 Years Ago: Duran Duran Makes a Comeback With the Wedding Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  14. ^ a b Femme Fatale (liner notes). Duran Duran. France: EMI Records. 1993. 881156 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Sinclair, Paul (11 February 2018). "Remembering Duran Duran's 'The Wedding Album' 25 years on". SuperDeluxeEdition. Archived from the original on 4 November 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  16. ^ Farber, Jim (26 February 1993). "Duran Duran". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2025.

Sources

  • Malins, Steve (2013). Duran Duran – Wild Boys: The Unauthorised Biography (Updated ed.). London: André Deutsch. ISBN 978-0-233-00392-4.
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