Sunday Morning

"Sunday Morning"
Single by The Velvet Underground
from the album The Velvet Underground & Nico
B-side	"Femme Fatale"
Released	December 1966 (single) March 1967 (album)
Recorded	November 1966 Mayfair Studios, New York City
Genre	Dream pop, pop rock
Length	2:56
Label	Verve Records
Writer(s)	Lou Reed, John Cale
Producer	Tom Wilson
The Velvet Underground singles chronology
"All Tomorrow's Parties / I'll Be Your Mirror" (1966) "Sunday Morning / Femme Fatale" (1966) "White Light/White Heat / Here She Comes Now" (1968)
The Velvet Underground & Nico track listing "Sunday Morning" "I'm Waiting for the Man" "Femme Fatale" "Venus in Furs" "Run Run Run" "All Tomorrow's Parties" "Heroin" "There She Goes Again" "I'll Be Your Mirror" "The Black Angel's Death Song" "European Son"

"Sunday Morning" is a song by The Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was also released as a single in 1966 with "Femme Fatale".

Recording

In late 1966, "Sunday Morning" was the final song to be recorded for The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was requested by Tom Wilson, who thought the album needed another song with lead vocals by Nico with the potential to be a successful single. The song was written with Nico's voice in mind by Lou Reed and John Cale on, in fact, a Sunday morning. The band previously performed it live with Nico singing lead, but when it came time to record it, Lou Reed sang the lead vocal.

Wilson brought the band into a New York City recording studio in November. At the last minute, Reed declared that he would sing lead vocals himself, which was received with great resistance from Paul Morrissey, the band's manager, who thought Reed's voice was far less marketable than Nico's.^[1][2] Nico would instead sing backing vocals on the song.

Aiming to create a hit for the album, "Sunday Morning" features noticeably more lush and professional production than the rest of the songs on the album. In fact, the song's inclusion on the album seems to be an afterthought — the final master tape of side one of the album shows "Sunday Morning" only penciled in before "I'm Waiting for the Man".^{[citation needed]}

The song's prominent use of celesta was the idea of John Cale, who noticed the instrument in the studio and decided to use it for the song.

Personnel

• Lou Reed – lead vocals, lead guitar
• John Cale – celesta, viola, piano
• Sterling Morrison – bass guitar
• Maureen Tucker – percussion
• Nico – backing vocals

Cover versions

"Sunday Morning" has been covered by various bands, including Bettie Serveert, Beck, Chris Coco & Nick Cave, Nina Hagen, James, Oh-OK, Elizabeth Cook, NY Loose, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Queers, and Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs. The song has also been covered by Belle & Sebastian during live shows.

A live version recorded by Oh-OK is compiled on The Complete Recordings

Notes