"Stephanie Says" is a song by American band
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. MacL ...
, originally recorded in 1968. Although available on various bootlegs, the song was not released officially until 1985 when a remixed version appeared on the album ''
VU'', and subsequently on the 1995 box set ''
Peel Slowly and See''. The original 1968 mix of "Stephanie Says" was included on the 2005 Velvet Underground compilation album ''
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
''.
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. ...
rewrote the lyrics and renamed it "Caroline Says (II)" for his 1973 solo album ''
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
''. While vastly different in tone, it retained the refrain "It's so cold in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
".
Reception
''
Spin'' said the Velvet Underground version was, "Virtually a direct referral to the first album. Both the melody and the function — another bittersweet homage to the negative girls of fashionable Manhattan —steers it awfully close to "All Tomorrow's Parties II"."
Cover versions
*
Lee Ranaldo of
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of th ...
covered the song on ''
Fifteen Minutes: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground''.
*
Keren Ann and
Barði Jóhannson, lead singer of Icelandic band
Bang Gang covered the song on their album ''
Lady and Bird
''Lady & Bird'' is the eponymous debut studio album from a collaboration between the singer/songwriter Keren Ann and Barði Jóhannson, the lead singer of the Icelandic band Bang Gang.
Track listing
# "Do What I Do"
# "Shepard's Song"
# "Step ...
''.
*
Serbian rock band
Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for h ...
covered the song with lyrics in the Serbian language in 1993 for the various artist compilation ''Radio Utopia''. The song was released again as a bonus track on the remastered edition of their second studio album ''Pop Music''.
* Icelandic singer
Emiliana Torrini covered the song for her 1996 studio album ''
Merman
Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...
''. Her version of the song reached number one on Iceland's
Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 chart in January 1997 and ended the year at number 62 on the year-end chart.
Related media
* In 2001, the song was used in the
Wes Anderson
Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by s ...
film ''
The Royal Tenenbaums''.
* The song is referenced heavily in
Amanda Palmer's "Blake Says" on her 2008 solo album ''
Who Killed Amanda Palmer''.
* The titular character's name in the
John Green novel ''
Looking for Alaska'' was inspired by the song, particularly the line "But she's not afraid to die, the people all call her Alaska".
References
{{Authority control
Number-one singles in Iceland
Songs written by Lou Reed
The Velvet Underground songs