Lady Godiva's Operation
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| "Lady Godiva's Operation" | ||
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| Song by The Velvet Underground | ||
| from the album White Light/White Heat | ||
| Released | January 30, 1968 | |
| Recorded | September 1967, Scepter Studios, New York City, New York | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:56 | |
| Label | Verve Records | |
| Writer(s) | Lou Reed | |
| Composer(s) | Lou Reed | |
| Producer(s) | Tom Wilson | |
| White Light/White Heat track listing | ||
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"Lady Godiva's Operation" is a song by Avant-garde American rock band The Velvet Underground, appearing on their second album, White Light/White Heat (1968).
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[edit] Subject matter
The song's lyrics, sung by John Cale, begin by describing the feelings of a drag queen named after Lady Godiva, and then concern the surgery performed upon her, in which s/he undergoes what at first seems to be a sex change but what turns out to be a lobotomy.
On a few occasions, Lou Reed interrupts the singing John Cale, and speaks/shouts the words in the lyrics. It was the band's intention to have Cale and Reed alternating on vocals, with Cale starting a line and Reed finishing, but they felt the experiment didn't carry off very well.
[edit] Music
The music, which is based on a simple two-chord vamp, is droning and dream-like, with pulsating guitar and bass parts, and a psychedelic electric viola part that is constantly panning from left to right and back, resulting in a dizzying, disorienting feeling.
In the second half of the song, Cale and bassist Sterling Morrison do vocal impersonations of various surgical instruments, including a drill and an iron lung.
[edit] Recordings
There is but one recorded version of the song, appearing on White Light/White Heat. The song is not known to have been played live.
[edit] Personnel
- John Cale - vocals, viola
- Lou Reed - guitar, vocals
- Sterling Morrison - bass guitar, backing vocals
- Maureen Tucker - percussion
