"New Age" is the fifth song on

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

album '' Loaded'' (1970). It is one of the four songs that feature Doug Yule on vocals, encouraged by main singer and songwriter

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...

. The song also appears on '' 1969: The Velvet Underground Live'', with Reed on vocals, singing an earlier, significantly different version of the lyrics. In its original form, it was about Reed's girlfriend at the time, Shelley Albin, and included a possible reference to Reed's bisexuality: "It seems to be my fancy to make it with Frank and Nancy." The later, studio version is written from the point of view of a fan addressing a "fat blonde actress". When the album was released, this song caused controversy. Reed, who had left the band a month before, stated that his original versions of "

Sweet Jane "Sweet Jane" is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground; it appears on their fourth studio album '' Loaded'' (1970). The song was written by Lou Reed, the band's leader, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances a ...

", "

Rock and Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

" and "New Age" were corrupted. Doug Yule, on the other hand, insists that Reed's mixes were respected. The ''Fully Loaded'' issue of the ''Loaded'' album (1997) includes an alternate version of "New Age", along with the other previously "corrupted" songs, subtitled "full-length version". It is about a minute longer than the LP version.

Notable covers

The cover album ''

Strange Little Girls ''Strange Little Girls'' is a concept album released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2001. The album's 12 tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men, reinterpreted by Amos from a female point of view. Amos created f ...

'' (2001) by

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

features a cover of the song (using the original lyrics).

References

{{authority control The Velvet Underground songs 1970 songs Songs written by Lou Reed