Lady Godiva's Operation
1968 song by the Velvet Underground
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"Lady Godiva's Operation" is a song by the Velvet Underground from their second album, White Light/White Heat (1968). The lyrics of the first half of the song, sung by John Cale, describe Lady Godiva; the lyrics of the second half, sung by Cale alternating with Lou Reed, are full of oblique, deadpan black humor and describe a botched surgical procedure, implied to be a lobotomy.[2] Cale plays electric viola while Sterling Morrison plays bass, an instrument that he disliked, despite his competent abilities.[3][4]
| "Lady Godiva's Operation" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Velvet Underground | |
| from the album White Light/White Heat | |
| Released | January 30, 1968 |
| Recorded | September 1967 |
| Studio | Scepter Studios, New York City |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:56 |
| Label | Verve |
| Songwriter | Lou Reed |
| Producer | Tom Wilson |
The song was covered by the Fatima Mansions as a single.[5]
Lou Reed said of the song in 1973: "Listen to the lyrics of my early songs, 'Lady Godiva's Operation' was about a trans-sexual."[6]
Personnel
- John Cale – lead vocals, electric viola, medical instrument vocal noises
- Lou Reed – co-lead vocals, electric guitar
- Sterling Morrison – bass guitar, backing vocals, medical instrument vocal noises
- Maureen Tucker – percussion