Let me try to explain, all great Collectors seem to have their secret basement room and vault. In mine is the absolutely stunningly beautiful photo of Nico, that's it. This video did a fine job of detailing more about Nico that most. The Warhol Poster of Nico, the Book and a re release CD are privately owned, so obviously Nico is still very fondly remembered as the Hypnotic Singer of beyond unique talent.
You certainly did Nico justice with this piece. Thank you for absolutely every bit of it. Life seems to have a way of driving home all I fail to do, and back in the punk rock days in NYC I had a chance to meet Nico and regrettably did not pursue it, an regrettable mistake. Ten years later I had it from a dear friend who did actually meet her in the early Eighties when Nico lived in Manchester, England that she was one of the most unique and truly original people she ever met.
My like was nr 303; now, i normally don't engage in angelic conversations ( maybe i should) but the number seemed interesting so i checked and, as Mr Sebastian would say, ''everything fell into place''. I hope it had to. Thanks again for sharing your deep felt accurate work.
Nico was very flawed, but she made some of the most blood-curdlingly subversive art in the 60s and 70s. The Velvet Underground & Nico is probably my second favorite album of all-time, but her two main solo albums are legitimately challenging, unsettling, and breathtakingly terrifying. The Marble Index is her saying to the listener: “Does this scare you? Is it challenging? Unsettling? Is it disturbing? Does it makes you look over your shoulder, as if you’re shaking and fearing for your life? Good. That’s the whole point.” :)
If i have to choose, my favorite album of all times is FUNHOUSE by THE STOOGES. But then, i love all their records. It's the same with THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, FLIPPER, THE CLASH, ROLLING STONES, SUICIDE,even STEELY DAN. I love all types of music, from DISCHARGE and G.B.H, or AMEBIX to CARPENTERS, PETER TOSH, KING CRIMSON or MILES DAVIS. It's too boring listening the same stuff all the time. How much SLAYER can you digest in few hours?
Patti Smith was a big supporter and friend in times of need to Nico. There's a story of when she met her in Paris and she was pretty deep into heroin and quite down and out. Her harmonium was stolen and she had no money to buy another.. Patti found one of the only shops in town that sold one and bought it for her on the spot because she had just gotten it advance for her latest record. She told her it was a gift and she didn't need to ever pay her back. It was a beautiful story of sisterhood
This is such a sweet story. I love Patti and Nico and it makes me glad to know that Patti was able to be there for her during such a difficult tragic time.
Oui elle aimait son harmonium que son fils Ari avait toujours avec lui. Il l'a gardé très longtemps mais je crois qu'il lui a été volé car à son décès à Ari en mai dernier il n'avait plus rien. Il a eu une fin de vie difficile avec 2 avc. Je pense qu'ils se sont retrouvé
At 2:08 'Born to Spanish and Yugoslav parents'. Both of Nico's parents were German, that was well documented by Richard Witts in his Nico biography. Nico often made false claims about her background ('I lie to deceive') and this one seems to have made its way into the newest Nico biography by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, although the author doesn't substantiate this claim, on the contrary, she places Nico's father Wilhelm into the wealthy Päffgen Kölsch master brewery dynasty from Cologne. The Yugoslavia part is especially strange, a country that came into existence far too late to be the home of her ancestors and, as is still painfully obvious until today, very few of its inhabitants ever considered themselves Yugoslav. This might seem trivial, but, as was pointed out in the comments, there is a discrepancy between Nico's obvious feelings of unease about her being a child of N*zi Germany on the one hand and her own racist/antisemitic remarks on the other hand. Her childhood seems to have deeply affected her, buying into her various tales doesn't help in understanding the person behind the enigma. I mean, if your parents were Spanish, Yugoslav or Turkish, your father was fighting in the resistance and you just so happened to be born in Germany in the 1930s, why would you feel guilty?
Growing up in western europe where every child learns at least 2-3 languages from schooling, family, friends, travel....... knowing many languages does not guarantee you are a mental heavyweight. Language learning when young is like muscle building. You just need to use them regularly. This is not to say I have any idea what her IQ was. I have no idea. But from the interviews out there, I gather she was not super duper engaging or a wealth of interesting stories. If I had to guess I'd say drug use probably lowered her likability, at least conversationally. Some smart people are on the spectrum, which can make them seem socially dull. That, too, may be the reason for the critical comments.
Nico was a true visionary and clearly an underrated artist, sad to see how only a few people know about her solo career. I have always loved the haunting sounds of the harmonium combined with her voice, Desertshore will always remain as one of my favourite albums.
You made a fine tribute. I adore Nico, she is one my musical heroes, a genius, a unique artist. There have been a number of books, movies, and articles that have attempted to elevate her profile and reassess her contribution to music history. And yet, I'm convinced at this point she will never get the wider recognition she deserves, and it's not fair. Anyway, thanks for keeping her flame alive, well done!
Absolutely! Nico was a genius, and is still massively under appreciated to this day. I challenge anyone to listen to the marble index and not recognise how brilliant that record is, Some peeople have just got it, and she had it!
Best documentary I have ever seen about her, that summs it up as good as possible in such a short time, looking at her from an empathic and objective perspective!
“I’ll Be Your Mirror” is one of my all time favorites! Soooooooo hauntingly beautiful. I’m just sad that it is only just a bit over 2 minutes…..it deserves more time!
Thanks for the well made feature on Nico and I am honored that the very last scene of it, when Nico came back from her dealer in Paris in 1976 with a smile on her face was made by me, even no one has asked. Lutz Graf-Ulbrich
Ok, look… I’m 2 minutes & 15 seconds in. I was watching a Nico interview & saw your “how Nico killed the chanteuse” thumbnail and was like *I’M. IN!*. I genuinely appreciate that this is how I get to learn more about Nico tonight. What a compelling idea! Thank you for making this!!!
This was amazing! She’s been my number 1 (her and Björk share number 1) artist ever since I found her as a teen 20+ years ago. You shed a lot of light and validity on her work. Thank you.
Nico deserves to be recognised as a wonderfully creative and original artist. The song Afraid is an absolute masterpiece and truly beautiful piece of music. One of my all time favourites. Her music is outstanding. Charles.
I hate it when people say someone has no choice. Nico was 100 percent empowered to carve out her own path. Unfortunately we cannot choose our consequences.
I'm actually reading "You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone" by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike at the moment. It's a very fair and in depth biography. Highly recommended.
Well done documentary! Just adds more to the mystic of Nico. Aside from from the film Nico-Icon and the well known James Young book there aren't too many sources. Definitely a complex person who didn't pursue fame for its own sake, and lived life only according to her rules: proto-Goth artist years ahead of its time.
Thank you for this video, Im a lifelong fan of hers and her solo work is so profound, honest, but coming from a place few will ever care for or understand.
Thanks a bunch for all of these interesting, in depht videos on figures i didn't even know. I'm always looking for art that can move me, stir new feelings or even hurt me! Cheers!
Thank you for this. I knew Nico in the last five years of her life. Like so many extraordinary, pioneering, visionary female performers such as Yoko Ono, Catherine Ribeiro, Annette Peacock, Brigitte Fontaine and others, her art was dismissed, derided and frequently ignored. Nico was a complex person. Yes she told very tall tales at times and could be difficult, but we are all guilty of that; she was also enormously smart, sweet and very, very witty. I adored her. Had she been male, she would never have been so marginalised and. I have never stopped missing her. She made my life from 18-23 a bizarre delight. I don't think anyone knew her particularly well and I was always in a state of awe and worship around her, a devoted Nico-teen. Nico remains my favourite singer and performer. She always will. Her songs have always polarised the people in my life. For me, there was never anyone like her and there never will be again.
Nico was a beautiful woman who was a very unique singer, and pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable. Yoko is just an annoying woman who thinks she's better than everybody else.
Thank you for making this, and in the end all the men who tried to control her life and didn't see or understand her genius will just look like fools. I think Iggy Pop is right, at some time in the future people are going to look back on Nico's work and go 'WHOOOOA', because it has real depth and meaning that you just can't fake.
I like Nico's post Velvets stuff so much more. She was great even without Cale. Sixty Forty is one of the best things she ever recorded. I think it's really likely that people will rediscover her and her post Velvets stuff. It's fantastic and so many people don't even know it exists. It's like buried treasure. Her day will come.
La mort de Ari Paffgen son fils en mai dernier à effectivement refait découvrir Nico et le velvet underground. Dans la presse ils ont parlé de Nico sa mère et de Delon le père qui ne l'a jamais reconnu. Et beaucoup recherche son livre, L'amour n'oublie jamais. Les bons artistes ressortent toujours un jour
How strange and embarrassing. I'm from America and am 68yrs old. I grew up overprotected which made me seek out the " bizarre and different " of almost everything .... So I'm surprised to say it was only just a few years ago when I heard the name Nico and just recently I started to search out the Story of this amazing talented and sensitive darkened soul and life she existed in. So tortured. It's mentioned she was difficult ? Hmmm how strange that no one came to her aid. - It seems she WAS alone.....an amazing talent - but it seems - undernourished.... In the end - it seemed to as though the best part of her day - she was still only running in neutral and then the down time of her day , she was shut down completely. She needed a soulful and uniquely talented perceptive crazy genius to come along out of nowhere and scoop her up , nourish her and run crazy - lifting her up high - exposing the rest of her untapped potential and silent inner beauty...and to also give it a way out of its captivity - and once out and secure - she should have been shown a way to keep it out . I wish she had found a way in which she could exist and live life freely , more creatively and more at ease and to be able to live happily among the evil , insensitive jealous vultures , who preyed upon talented women Musicians , who they felt so threatened by... ! They do not matter or count in the Big Picture.. Unfortunately they had influence and power then (and still now). What kind of people would sit by and let someone , ANYONE - (a women esp) be treated the way described here. Again..... you mentioned she was difficult. I wonder why? It's not funny but I would've been homicidal or have had a Complete Nervous Breakdown....and would feel others did not genuinely care...! Seven languages spoken fluently and all the rest of unknown incredible talents - NYT Crossword Puzzle ...? Wow! How very sad..... but how WONDERFUL of you - that you are telling her story - with accuracy , warmth and with sensitivity - which she so deserves. Thank you !
Mamma mia quante cavolate Non era ne una icona ne un genio.Anzi non era neanche considerata una cantante.Era solo una tossicache si è rovinata di sua volontà la vita ma la cosa terribile è quella che ha rovinato il figlio.Sono quelle persone che non sanno amare e sono tossiche per le vite degli altri.
Thanks for making this piece. You made it with much respect for Nico. Her music really speaks to me even though it is so mysterious and melancholy. Nico has helped me to accept and kind of understand that dark part of my being. That is something most people are either unwilling or afraid to do.
Congratulation to that video-story about Nico! You put it in a nutshell. And I think too, if Nico woud have had a empathetic manager, her carreer would have been another one. But after the cruel experiences with Lou Reed, maybe she had no confidence in anybody.
I have to compliment you on your marvelous insights into this artist I’ve forever known so little about. I’m a guy, and I’m old enough to remember an art installation in my 1st year of college, (which it took me nearly a decade to get back to), where Warhol’s soup can and Marilyn Monroe prints were on display when they were still a new thing. I’d seen Fellini films as well as Warhol’s and others. I was desperately trying to figure things out on my own, absolutely on my own. I had achieved some notoriety for my “outrageous” behavior, hair length and the way I dressed way ahead of anyone I knew of in the Midwest area I was from. I would read about things in magazines or see stuff on mostly the news to get any hint of things happening elsewhere. Without going into it any deeper, I kinda got stuck here, and what I found out about I had sought out. That’s why the verse quoted from the William Wordswort’s poem “ The Prelude” struck home so much with me. Be that good or bad! Coincidentally, back in the day, while he was still making albums, I was completely into Jim Morrison. (Yes, it was a devastating time to go through the streak of Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison’s deaths. [or was it Joplin, Hendrix, then Morrison?] At any rate I was, “the first one on my block,” (actually much wider an area than that), with everything. Although I eventually fell into having a family, with kids,a job and all, I got divorced 25 years or so later and another 25 years after that I’m still,very much, “…voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone. I guess it’s just the nature of this beast. It might sound slightly unbelievable, but I grew up not realizing that I was considered handsome by women and men. I was, and always have been, straight. I was pretty oblivious to girls who liked me and in my mid teens I started to get the, come on, by a fairly long stream of guys. I was totally not interested, even when my best friend at the time, came on to me. I eventually found being attractive burdensome. I believe, Nico experienced the same problem, only for women/girls I know it must be much worse. I was a fairly tall and physically able guy so I never dealt with any come on becoming ugly. I had two attractive sisters, which I know periodically but trouble with unwanted attention. I also had 3 attractive daughters, (as well as two fairly attractive sons), but I know my daughters had troubles. Being attractive can be burdensome. I grew my hair long and grew a beard, anything to help mask my looks, and I’m sure that added to my loneliness. I wasn’t anything close to a ladies man. No confidence at all. I punched at least one guy directly for calling me a “pretty boy”, I hated that. I even worked on my speech to start speaking with worse grammar so I didn’t stick out. I did anything I could to disappear. Although I’ve played the guitar and had a voice that I’ve been often complimented on at church and things and even sung duets and things at school programs, I was just too shy inside to ever try for a career in public. Odd thing is though, I was such a naturally good public speaker, that when it came to speaking about anything like social injustice or even casual storytelling at work or elsewhere, I had people spellbound. I tried a few plays, but when I had to perform as a first cast member I had to drink, or at least I believed, in order to go on stage. Thankfully, I never got into a position where I had to perform, like Nico did to eat. Being a beautiful tall model must have been incredibly burdensome. I understand that completely. Even after 50 years of playing the guitar I can’t play in front of family or in public unless I’m “helped” through my anxiety. No one would expect that by my appearance. So I still find myself, sitting alone most often with my thoughts. (Probably strange to most anyway). That’s why I feel so sad learning about Nico. And I haven’t yet, listened to more than 2 of her songs besides what is on the Velvet Underground with NICO!!! I never even realized she was the same woman in the Fellini film(s). I got bullied a lot by the way, it’s just easy to if you spend much time alone. I just got attacked by groups especially when I first grew my hair long way back when! Girls/women aren’t the only ones plagued by the jerk guys. But I understand sexually is on a whole other level. I got robbed at my first apartment along with 3 other guys. The only girl, who was one guys girlfriend, was repeatedly rapped in another room while we all got held at gun point. For years I thought rape should be a capital offense. I realize now it’s sometimes more complicated than that situation but I only wish I could have…., taken some kind of retribution for her. It’s almost worse than murder because it can curse someone to years, even a lifetime, of pure hell!
I’m so happy to hear that. There definitely needs to be more amplified voices in music communities who aren’t cis/straight dudes. That’s why I’m doing this, so thank you so much!
Thanks. This is so nice to have. Even though this pop iconography was before my time. I’m looking forward to buying her records today. All there stuff seems modern day, at any rate.❤
Fun Stories. I think contextualising N. has a victim only plays into the mythos of N. as fallen angel/fatale etc. I don't think she was the centre of Warhol's world or of the Velvet's live show,. But a fascinating character included in the fleeting revolving doors of that whole scene. Her entire reputation/allure is forged during those years and in the orbit of Warhol, Velvets and the Factory scene, so its seems a little frivolous and naive to suggest that she is somehow bigger or more important than it. Her later work is remarkable, but it doesn't not happen without the association of above scene which provides much of the reputation, context and platform to build further music/iconography etc.
She was definitely noticed, and made a fuss about - before being fucked over, disappointed or discarded, but a lot of people around that scene were. And in many ways her story is not so dissimilar in essence from many potential talents drawn unto the bright lights and possibilities of that particular circus. I'll be your mirror.
Grrrl. This is so good. So much context added that would otherwise be missed, so many details that must have been hard to source and find! Subscribed immediately. I'm reading "Nico: The End" right now. I adore the book. It is a look at her after her fall from fashion and is so full of her touring experiences as a star after the fact. If you haven't read, I highly recommend (but I assume you have.) If you were to guide a new follower of yours, where would you suggest to start? Sincerely, such a great look at the eclipse of Nico.
I've always adored Nico. It's surprising to see that she's suddenly back in the news in a positive way, which has never been the case. Maybe because her son Ari has just died in France, alone and in terrible distress.
Je pense que la mort de Ari a choqué tout le monde et c'est vrai que j'ai entendu parler de Nico avec le livre de Ari que j'ai retrouvé, L'amour n'oublie jamais. Et je me rends compte qu'il avait une mère très talentueuse. Il un fb, Nico Andy et velvet underground. Et Alain Delon n'a même pas réagi à la mort de ce fils qu'il n'a jamais reconnu. Lui même a eu un avc mais à des enfants pour l'aider
Nico did not have yugoslav-spanish parents. She made it up to become more interesting. By blood she was purely German (Christina Päffgen from Cologne). She did not speak seven languages fluently either but three: German, French and English.
OMG 30 minutes of talking about one of the most enigmatic voices in music!! while her personal beliefs and bigotry has a permeated stain on her legacy, there's no doubt her heavy influence on the world , specifically gothic and alternative culture
wow! I didn't realize how mean Lou Reed was to her. My gawd, there was incredible jealousy and outright hostility towards her for being a female creative genius (and a "beautiful" one at that)... ! I hope that she can feel how much we love and appreciate her, wherever she is now. She had to go through so much just to exist!!!! I don't think being a female artist/musician holds nearly the same EGO rewards that male artists enjoy... talented women often intimidate and repel people... she had no choice but to embrace it and make it her own.
oh! we can't forget, that the other "choice" she could have made would've been to not pursue her groundbreaking art!!! She could have lived a quiet, conventional life and just forgotten about all that was living and breathing inside her... many women make that choice!!! her accomplishments cannot be overestimated. she was a complete radical, pioneer and then some...
do you not see the irony in that? Paraphrasing obviously: “Lou was so mean to her for being a woman.” And “Women artists don’t have as much ego as men.” Great observation Lou jr
@@cahyasatixoxo7207 I didn't say they didn't have as much ego, but the "ego rewards" are not the same for men and women. I don't feel the groupie factor is the same for men and women at all. That's what I mean. I don't think you were actually paying attention to what I said, but you did want to make sure you insulted me, so, you're kinda seeming like a d*ck anwyay.
Anyone know which song BRIAN JONES played gtr on the " Im Not Saying"/"The Last Mile"? Yes Jimmy Page played on both sides and Arranged and conducted. JPJs auditioned or found her. Thanx
Nico's take on female autonomy is interesting. Given a choice of means of losing autonomy-losing her autonomy to men or to drugs-she chose the drugs because the drugs hindered her creativity less than the men did. I still wish that she had got a manager, in the early 70s. But such a manager would have to be tough to be equal to the male world of the music business. Strong women managers of creative artists were rare in her world. Who knows? Such a manager might have helped/pushed her to clean up from the drugs, which might have lengthened her life. But Nico was good at littering her life with 'what if's' for others to wonder about.....
Love the comments on Nico,I'm a Nico fan, I love her singing I'm not saying,and her version singing Sunday morning,and I'll be your mirror,to me I dedicate 🏆🏆🏆🏆to you ,rest in peace Nico,your not forgotten amen 🌹,🏆👍💗😘🎥🏆🌟💟⭐🌼🌷📹🌠🌸✌️😘👍🏆🌟
Amazing video, it was a weird feeling when you said you challenge people not to cry during this one specific song, because my eyes were already watery... I always thought that The Marble Index is astonishingly beautiful, but I learned a lot about Nico from this video and I have even more respect for her than I had before. But one thing that is confusing to me about her is her alleged nazi views? I wonder if she really believed in aryan race superiority etc
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. In regards to the n*zi stuff, she was definitely very bigoted. But it’s also weird cause, in true Nico fashion, she constantly went back and forth about it. In her childhood diary she called the n*zis in WWII “vile, German pigs,” but then went on to display racist and anti-Semitic behavior herself. I guess we’ll never know how she truly felt but as we know, words and actions are everything, and that’s definitely put a disappointing dent in her legacy
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents i wish this stuff would have been mentioned in the video, rather than left as a footnote in the comments. even if u don't believe her racism comes through in her music, i think it's important to discuss it as part of who she was
@@transrightsbaybee believe me I definitely considered it, but unpacking that whole mess is going to require much more than 5-10 minutes of a 30-minute video and the past few months of working on this script, life events getting in the way, and on top of the “separating the art from the artist” video, I was already exhausted and overworked. I’ve been planning a follow-up video on the later years and her unfavorable qualities (racism, internalized misogyny, etc.) but I’m going to have to be in a stable headspace when I do it.
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents thanks for the reply!. i think its ok to leave out, considering how there's tons of work going into this already and like u said including a discussion of her politics or bigotry would probably multiply that a lot. but i feel it wouldve been better if it had at least been mentioned, even if all u said was what you've said in this thread about how she held and expressed a lot of bigoted beliefs, but that she hated n*zis and sometimes contradicted that bigotry, and that you were considering making a separate video to discuss it because it was so complicated. Or maybe a pinned comment or a note in the description to that effect. but I don't want you to think i didn't like the video! it was an excellent synopsis of Nico's career and a very fascinating story that i never knew much about , so i'm really glad i watched this. this channel is really a blessing, making such great stuff with such a small viewership [:
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents Oh yeah - it's such a dangerous and difficult thing; to hold up a writer's thoughts/actions or things they have said as possibly being 'part of their art', or an influence. If this was truly the case then must I stop listening to Wagner's music - because he actively campaigned to ban Jewish writers from performing their works live? How far back can we dare go with 'cancel culture'? If we cannot separate the art from the artist... we may end up with 'not a lot of art'. So sad - "Nico had a drug problem" so they wouldn't name a square after her; ALL the Romantic Poets had drug problems, yet they are held up as geniuses; many places named in their honour. Double standards xx
I am a woman from Nicos Era. Women were so oppressed in the arts. The story of Nico as an female artist men tried to destroy happened to many of us. Womens art hidden marginalized. Destroyed. Misogyny is real and weaponized. It is only a fraction better today but i am hopeful
Never were cool "alternative" beautiful girls like Nico when i was young where i came of age (western canada) thats for sure....I would look at those pictures of her on the VU banana album and wonder where those type of girls could be found haha - well i guess New York City would be the answer....in retrospect its probably a good thing i never found one of those cool beautiful Nico-esque alt girls back then - they would have eaten a schmuck like me at that time alive haha (p.s. excellent well researched documentary,2 thumbs up!)
If Claudine Longet was the Chanteuse who Nico snuffed out, it was probably with a revolver to dish out some of that 'Circle of Life' Spider Sabich Karma.
I felt conflicted watching this, because on the one hand I don't know much about her and Nico sounds like a really fascinating and groundbreaking artist, but I've also read a bit about her incidents of racist and antisemitic behavior and it surprised me that the video never addresses it, either to dispute the claims or provide context. It kinda seems like whenever it comes up with fans as far as I've seen they just don't really care and it bugs me.
Great video. When I first listened to the VU I immediately sought out Nico's music and bought her first 45. My favourite song is also Afraid just as you said , painful and beautiful. Thank you !!!!
I’ve read lots of rock biographies and autobiographies - no one has a good word for Lou Reed. He comes across as spiteful, massively egotistical and just not very nice. Countless artists that have encountered him attest to it. Nico suffered a great deal in her life - not least in her relationship with the French actor Alain Delon who has just died (18.08.24). They had a child together, Ari, but Delon never publicly acknowledged paternity. Ari was raised by Delon’s mother and generally ignored by Delon. Ari died of a heroin overdose in 2023.
A very strange and wonderful human , I really think she could of become more , if she would have followed the songs from Gordon lightfoot and Dylan ,her voice seemed to follow that folk rock sound and a bit of the France vibe music combined . Gothic at the time in the 60s was not really followed. The video of her singing "I'm not saying" was wonderful and fit her haunted persona perfectly and a Euro folk artist and could have gone a long way , her voice is so good .
I'mimpressed! I had long known about Nico but I got serious about her in the 1980's when I bought her last two albums, "Drama of Exile" and the live cassette=only "Do or Die," one as part of a close-out sale from a record store that was going ou9t of business. I still love both these albums and am a bit surprised you didn't mention them in this video. Other than that, you did a great job profiling a still unjustly neglected artist (and thanks for explaining why the "Chelsea Girl" album was so boring and awful, and not truly worthy of her).
It really frustrates me the level of contempt people seem to have towards Nico specifically which they don’t seem to apply towards the tons of male(usually white)artists who were far worse. I’ve even seen people cheer on an instance of Jim Morrison hitting her once. I don’t want to sound like I’m excusing her actions, I’m definitely not, but it’s just so upsetting that even in death she can’t seem to escape the rampant misogyny that plagued her whole life.
Yes, you are so right. People get on a wagon about people. Someone starts it and the sherp echo the soundbites. It is such a horrid, Lord Of The Flies vibe. Misogyny is sometimes worse towards beautiful and intelligent women.. and other women become hostile also.🙌 I say all this, love Nicos creative works, but despise her racist views. ❤
I guess my comment which I thought was positive but too long hasn’t seemed to make it. I can only hope someone somewhere read it and might understand a little bit more.
I haven't met many vapid models..they're are a couple but i grew up with a runway model we spent 10 years together and on and off from youth she was anything but vapid... she and i were hunting the remnants of William S. Burroughs , Brion Gysin, Ian sommerville, Coil, Throbbing gristle, Stephen Stapleton, DIJ, NON, Current 93, KK Null,merzbow, we met John Kale at ottays in North Texas,..... i think the orator on this is missing the scene of extreme s&m and heroin resulting in the hard caricature of human as object..... experimental musicians give Nico credit.
Happy birthday, Nico. You deserve all the recognition and accolades in the world. I hope I did you justice.
Let me try to explain, all great Collectors seem to have their secret basement room and vault. In mine is the absolutely stunningly beautiful photo of Nico, that's it.
This video did a fine job of detailing more about Nico that most. The Warhol Poster of Nico, the Book and a re release CD are privately owned, so obviously Nico is still very fondly remembered as the Hypnotic Singer of beyond unique talent.
Nico wasnt a feminist. So please don't try to paint her as a COMMUNIST FEMINIST.
Nico wasn't a feminist. In a interview clip from Nico Icon she stated, "... I wish I born a Man."
You certainly did Nico justice with this piece. Thank you for absolutely every bit of it. Life seems to have a way of driving home all I fail to do, and back in the punk rock days in NYC I had a chance to meet Nico and regrettably did not pursue it, an regrettable mistake. Ten years later I had it from a dear friend who did actually meet her in the early Eighties when Nico lived in Manchester, England that she was one of the most unique and truly original people she ever met.
My like was nr 303; now, i normally don't engage in angelic conversations ( maybe i should) but the number seemed interesting so i checked and, as Mr Sebastian would say, ''everything fell into place''. I hope it had to. Thanks again for sharing your deep felt accurate work.
Nico was very flawed, but she made some of the most blood-curdlingly subversive art in the 60s and 70s. The Velvet Underground & Nico is probably my second favorite album of all-time, but her two main solo albums are legitimately challenging, unsettling, and breathtakingly terrifying. The Marble Index is her saying to the listener: “Does this scare you? Is it challenging? Unsettling? Is it disturbing? Does it makes you look over your shoulder, as if you’re shaking and fearing for your life? Good. That’s the whole point.” :)
DESERTSHORE is also "o happy day"
If i have to choose, my favorite album of all times is FUNHOUSE by THE STOOGES. But then, i love all their records. It's the same with THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, FLIPPER, THE CLASH, ROLLING STONES, SUICIDE,even STEELY DAN. I love all types of music, from DISCHARGE and G.B.H, or AMEBIX to CARPENTERS, PETER TOSH, KING CRIMSON or MILES DAVIS. It's too boring listening the same stuff all the time. How much SLAYER can you digest in few hours?
@RublevKovacs thank you. Even Lemmy loved ABBA and DAMNED at the same time
How and when did you meet her?
Nico flawed. Get a life
Patti Smith was a big supporter and friend in times of need to Nico. There's a story of when she met her in Paris and she was pretty deep into heroin and quite down and out. Her harmonium was stolen and she had no money to buy another.. Patti found one of the only shops in town that sold one and bought it for her on the spot because she had just gotten it advance for her latest record. She told her it was a gift and she didn't need to ever pay her back. It was a beautiful story of sisterhood
Two of the greatest female artists
This is such a sweet story. I love Patti and Nico and it makes me glad to know that Patti was able to be there for her during such a difficult tragic time.
Stealing Nico’s harmonium, that’s like stealing Beethoven’s piano
Calm down :)
Oui elle aimait son harmonium que son fils Ari avait toujours avec lui. Il l'a gardé très longtemps mais je crois qu'il lui a été volé car à son décès à Ari en mai dernier il n'avait plus rien. Il a eu une fin de vie difficile avec 2 avc. Je pense qu'ils se sont retrouvé
I don’t blame ANY musician for lying to music journalists. Their questions are almost always stupid.
Bob Dylan was king of doing that! 😄😄
So glad I had the opportunity to see her in a concert once, in Berlin, Germany. Unvergessen!
At 2:08 'Born to Spanish and Yugoslav parents'. Both of Nico's parents were German, that was well documented by Richard Witts in his Nico biography. Nico often made false claims about her background ('I lie to deceive') and this one seems to have made its way into the newest Nico biography by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, although the author doesn't substantiate this claim, on the contrary, she places Nico's father Wilhelm into the wealthy Päffgen Kölsch master brewery dynasty from Cologne. The Yugoslavia part is especially strange, a country that came into existence far too late to be the home of her ancestors and, as is still painfully obvious until today, very few of its inhabitants ever considered themselves Yugoslav.
This might seem trivial, but, as was pointed out in the comments, there is a discrepancy between Nico's obvious feelings of unease about her being a child of N*zi Germany on the one hand and her own racist/antisemitic remarks on the other hand. Her childhood seems to have deeply affected her, buying into her various tales doesn't help in understanding the person behind the enigma. I mean, if your parents were Spanish, Yugoslav or Turkish, your father was fighting in the resistance and you just so happened to be born in Germany in the 1930s, why would you feel guilty?
Personne ne doit se sentir coupable ! Qui fait la guerre ? L’élite (les dirigeants) ou le peuple ?
How could anyone think that a woman who could speak seven languages was a mental lightweight?
jealousy; i have begun to realize jealousy is the main ingredient in the intangible poison that tries to ruin everything and everyone good and fun...
I second this, plus envy. @@joejones9520
Growing up in western europe where every child learns at least 2-3 languages from schooling, family, friends, travel....... knowing many languages does not guarantee you are a mental heavyweight. Language learning when young is like muscle building. You just need to use them regularly. This is not to say I have any idea what her IQ was. I have no idea. But from the interviews out there, I gather she was not super duper engaging or a wealth of interesting stories. If I had to guess I'd say drug use probably lowered her likability, at least conversationally. Some smart people are on the spectrum, which can make them seem socially dull. That, too, may be the reason for the critical comments.
Nico was a true visionary and clearly an underrated artist, sad to see how only a few people know about her solo career. I have always loved the haunting sounds of the harmonium combined with her voice, Desertshore will always remain as one of my favourite albums.
You made a fine tribute. I adore Nico, she is one my musical heroes, a genius, a unique artist. There have been a number of books, movies, and articles that have attempted to elevate her profile and reassess her contribution to music history. And yet, I'm convinced at this point she will never get the wider recognition she deserves, and it's not fair. Anyway, thanks for keeping her flame alive, well done!
Absolutely! Nico was a genius, and is still massively under appreciated to this day. I challenge anyone to listen to the marble index and not recognise how brilliant that record is,
Some peeople have just got it, and she had it!
Best documentary I have ever seen about her, that summs it up as good as possible in such a short time, looking at her from an empathic and objective perspective!
“I’ll Be Your Mirror” is one of my all time favorites! Soooooooo hauntingly beautiful. I’m just sad that it is only just a bit over 2 minutes…..it deserves more time!
Lou Reed was a petty nasty little man. Had a track record of deeply problematic behavior towards women and just people in general.
Thanks for the well made feature on Nico and I am honored that the very last scene of it, when Nico came back from her dealer in Paris in 1976 with a smile on her face was made by me, even no one has asked. Lutz Graf-Ulbrich
HELLO! literal legend and person super relevant to Nicos life right here in comments people! 👆
Ok, look… I’m 2 minutes & 15 seconds in. I was watching a Nico interview & saw your “how Nico killed the chanteuse” thumbnail and was like *I’M. IN!*. I genuinely appreciate that this is how I get to learn more about Nico tonight. What a compelling idea! Thank you for making this!!!
This was amazing! She’s been my number 1 (her and Björk share number 1) artist ever since I found her as a teen 20+ years ago. You shed a lot of light and validity on her work. Thank you.
Nico deserves to be recognised as a wonderfully creative and original artist. The song Afraid is an absolute masterpiece and truly beautiful piece of music. One of my all time favourites. Her music is outstanding.
Charles.
I hate it when people say someone has no choice. Nico was 100 percent empowered to carve out her own path. Unfortunately we cannot choose our consequences.
I'm actually reading "You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone" by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike at the moment.
It's a very fair and in depth biography. Highly recommended.
Well done documentary! Just adds more to the mystic of Nico. Aside from from the film Nico-Icon and the well known James Young book there aren't too many sources. Definitely a complex person who didn't pursue fame for its own sake, and lived life only according to her rules: proto-Goth artist years ahead of its time.
Thank you for this video, Im a lifelong fan of hers and her solo work is so profound, honest, but coming from a place few will ever care for or understand.
Thank you.
Happy birthday my love.
We miss your life force on this cruel world
Thanks a bunch for all of these interesting, in depht videos on figures i didn't even know.
I'm always looking for art that can move me, stir new feelings or even hurt me!
Cheers!
Her music changed my soul. ❤
One of the most strikingly unique artists of our lifetimes. She deserves her own category,
Thank you for this.
I knew Nico in the last five years of her life. Like so many extraordinary, pioneering, visionary female performers such as Yoko Ono, Catherine Ribeiro, Annette Peacock, Brigitte Fontaine and others, her art was dismissed, derided and frequently ignored.
Nico was a complex person. Yes she told very tall tales at times and could be difficult, but we are all guilty of that; she was also enormously smart, sweet and very, very witty. I adored her. Had she been male, she would never have been so marginalised and.
I have never stopped missing her. She made my life from 18-23 a bizarre delight. I don't think anyone knew her particularly well and I was always in a state of awe and worship around her, a devoted Nico-teen.
Nico remains my favourite singer and performer. She always will. Her songs have always polarised the people in my life. For me, there was never anyone like her and there never will be again.
Nico was a beautiful woman who was a very unique singer, and pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable. Yoko is just an annoying woman who thinks she's better than everybody else.
@CoasterMan13 Yes! 😂, I cannot even put Yoko on the same level of creativity as Nico.
Thank you for making this, and in the end all the men who tried to control her life and didn't see or understand her genius will just look like fools.
I think Iggy Pop is right, at some time in the future people are going to look back on Nico's work and go 'WHOOOOA', because it has real depth and meaning that you just can't fake.
I like Nico's post Velvets stuff so much more. She was great even without Cale. Sixty Forty is one of the best things she ever recorded. I think it's really likely that people will rediscover her and her post Velvets stuff. It's fantastic and so many people don't even know it exists. It's like buried treasure. Her day will come.
La mort de Ari Paffgen son fils en mai dernier à effectivement refait découvrir Nico et le velvet underground. Dans la presse ils ont parlé de Nico sa mère et de Delon le père qui ne l'a jamais reconnu. Et beaucoup recherche son livre, L'amour n'oublie jamais. Les bons artistes ressortent toujours un jour
fantastic. very, very good. thank you for making this.
How strange and embarrassing.
I'm from America and am 68yrs old. I grew up overprotected which made me seek out the " bizarre and different " of almost everything .... So I'm surprised to say it was only just a few years ago when I heard the name Nico
and just recently I started to search out the Story of this amazing talented and sensitive darkened soul and life she existed in. So tortured. It's mentioned she was difficult ? Hmmm how strange that no one came to her aid. - It seems she WAS alone.....an amazing talent - but it seems - undernourished....
In the end - it seemed to as though the best part of her day - she was still only running in neutral and then the down time of her day , she was shut down completely.
She needed a soulful and uniquely talented perceptive crazy genius to come along out of nowhere and scoop her up , nourish her and run crazy - lifting her up high -
exposing the rest of her untapped potential and silent inner beauty...and to also give it a way out of its captivity -
and once out and secure - she should have been shown a way to keep it out . I wish she had found a way in which she could exist and live life freely , more creatively and more at ease and to be able to live happily among the evil , insensitive jealous vultures , who preyed upon talented women Musicians ,
who they felt so threatened by... ! They do not matter or count in the Big Picture.. Unfortunately they had influence and power then (and still now).
What kind of people would sit by and let someone , ANYONE - (a women esp) be treated the way described here. Again..... you mentioned she was difficult.
I wonder why?
It's not funny but I would've been homicidal or have had a Complete Nervous Breakdown....and would feel others did not genuinely care...!
Seven languages spoken fluently and all the rest of unknown incredible talents - NYT Crossword Puzzle ...? Wow!
How very sad.....
but how WONDERFUL of you - that you are telling her story - with accuracy , warmth and with sensitivity - which she so deserves. Thank you !
U just like to escape into gutter fantasy
Mamma mia quante cavolate Non era ne una icona ne un genio.Anzi non era neanche considerata una cantante.Era solo una tossicache si è rovinata di sua volontà la vita ma la cosa terribile è quella che ha rovinato il figlio.Sono quelle persone che non sanno amare e sono tossiche per le vite degli altri.
Not to help is humanity's customary hate of the gifted
Wow, the fastest half hour of my life. I literally sat in the dark watching this. Well done, Izzy!
this video was really well written
Good presentation. I never liked Velvet Underground and Warhole, but now I appreciate Nico. I'd say she achieved what she was after.
Thanks for making this piece. You made it with much respect for Nico. Her music really speaks to me even though it is so mysterious and melancholy. Nico has helped me to accept and kind of understand that dark part of my being. That is something most people are either unwilling or afraid to do.
Your channel is going to blow! Love Nico and her work
Congratulation to that video-story about Nico! You put it in a nutshell. And I think too, if Nico woud have had a empathetic manager, her carreer would have been another one. But after the cruel experiences with Lou Reed, maybe she had no confidence in anybody.
Nico - the Godmother of Goth 🎤🎵🎶🎶🎹
Excellent, thank you!
I have to compliment you on your marvelous insights into this artist I’ve forever known so little about. I’m a guy, and I’m old enough to remember an art installation in my 1st year of college, (which it took me nearly a decade to get back to), where Warhol’s soup can and Marilyn Monroe prints were on display when they were still a new thing. I’d seen Fellini films as well as Warhol’s and others. I was desperately trying to figure things out on my own, absolutely on my own. I had achieved some notoriety for my “outrageous” behavior, hair length and the way I dressed way ahead of anyone I knew of in the Midwest area I was from. I would read about things in magazines or see stuff on mostly the news to get any hint of things happening elsewhere. Without going into it any deeper, I kinda got stuck here, and what I found out about I had sought out. That’s why the verse quoted from the William Wordswort’s poem “ The Prelude” struck home so much with me. Be that good or bad! Coincidentally, back in the day, while he was still making albums, I was completely into Jim Morrison. (Yes, it was a devastating time to go through the streak of Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison’s deaths. [or was it Joplin, Hendrix, then Morrison?] At any rate I was, “the first one on my block,” (actually much wider an area than that), with everything. Although I eventually fell into having a family, with kids,a job and all, I got divorced 25 years or so later and another 25 years after that I’m still,very much, “…voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone. I guess it’s just the nature of this beast. It might sound slightly unbelievable, but I grew up not realizing that I was considered handsome by women and men. I was, and always have been, straight. I was pretty oblivious to girls who liked me and in my mid teens I started to get the, come on, by a fairly long stream of guys. I was totally not interested, even when my best friend at the time, came on to me. I eventually found being attractive burdensome. I believe, Nico experienced the same problem, only for women/girls I know it must be much worse. I was a fairly tall and physically able guy so I never dealt with any come on becoming ugly. I had two attractive sisters, which I know periodically but trouble with unwanted attention. I also had 3 attractive daughters, (as well as two fairly attractive sons), but I know my daughters had troubles. Being attractive can be burdensome. I grew my hair long and grew a beard, anything to help mask my looks, and I’m sure that added to my loneliness. I wasn’t anything close to a ladies man. No confidence at all. I punched at least one guy directly for calling me a “pretty boy”, I hated that. I even worked on my speech to start speaking with worse grammar so I didn’t stick out. I did anything I could to disappear. Although I’ve played the guitar and had a voice that I’ve been often complimented on at church and things and even sung duets and things at school programs, I was just too shy inside to ever try for a career in public. Odd thing is though, I was such a naturally good public speaker, that when it came to speaking about anything like social injustice or even casual storytelling at work or elsewhere, I had people spellbound. I tried a few plays, but when I had to perform as a first cast member I had to drink, or at least I believed, in order to go on stage. Thankfully, I never got into a position where I had to perform, like Nico did to eat. Being a beautiful tall model must have been incredibly burdensome. I understand that completely. Even after 50 years of playing the guitar I can’t play in front of family or in public unless I’m “helped” through my anxiety. No one would expect that by my appearance. So I still find myself, sitting alone most often with my thoughts. (Probably strange to most anyway). That’s why I feel so sad learning about Nico. And I haven’t yet, listened to more than 2 of her songs besides what is on the Velvet Underground with NICO!!! I never even realized she was the same woman in the Fellini film(s). I got bullied a lot by the way, it’s just easy to if you spend much time alone. I just got attacked by groups especially when I first grew my hair long way back when! Girls/women aren’t the only ones plagued by the jerk guys. But I understand sexually is on a whole other level. I got robbed at my first apartment along with 3 other guys. The only girl, who was one guys girlfriend, was repeatedly rapped in another room while we all got held at gun point. For years I thought rape should be a capital offense. I realize now it’s sometimes more complicated than that situation but I only wish I could have…., taken some kind of retribution for her. It’s almost worse than murder because it can curse someone to years, even a lifetime, of pure hell!
Nicely done, Excellent!
I’m soso glad i found your channel🙏 there are so many straight dude music channels and ure fresh air
I’m so happy to hear that. There definitely needs to be more amplified voices in music communities who aren’t cis/straight dudes. That’s why I’m doing this, so thank you so much!
Poor Nico. She will always be the most incredible and terrifying artist and i absolutely adore her
Thanks. This is so nice to have. Even though this pop iconography was before my time. I’m looking forward to buying her records today. All there stuff seems modern day, at any rate.❤
Fun Stories. I think contextualising N. has a victim only plays into the mythos of N. as fallen angel/fatale etc. I don't think she was the centre of Warhol's world or of the Velvet's live show,. But a fascinating character included in the fleeting revolving doors of that whole scene. Her entire reputation/allure is forged during those years and in the orbit of Warhol, Velvets and the Factory scene, so its seems a little frivolous and naive to suggest that she is somehow bigger or more important than it. Her later work is remarkable, but it doesn't not happen without the association of above scene which provides much of the reputation, context and platform to build further music/iconography etc.
She was definitely noticed, and made a fuss about - before being fucked over, disappointed or discarded, but a lot of people around that scene were. And in many ways her story is not so dissimilar in essence from many potential talents drawn unto the bright lights and possibilities of that particular circus. I'll be your mirror.
"Nico Icon" , one of the best documentatios ever made
Grrrl. This is so good. So much context added that would otherwise be missed, so many details that must have been hard to source and find! Subscribed immediately. I'm reading "Nico: The End" right now. I adore the book. It is a look at her after her fall from fashion and is so full of her touring experiences as a star after the fact. If you haven't read, I highly recommend (but I assume you have.)
If you were to guide a new follower of yours, where would you suggest to start? Sincerely, such a great look at the eclipse of Nico.
I love this video!!
Nico started in the 60s. She was loaded with charisma. Lou Reed was indeed "seedy".
I've always adored Nico. It's surprising to see that she's suddenly back in the news in a positive way, which has never been the case. Maybe because her son Ari has just died in France, alone and in terrible distress.
Je pense que la mort de Ari a choqué tout le monde et c'est vrai que j'ai entendu parler de Nico avec le livre de Ari que j'ai retrouvé, L'amour n'oublie jamais. Et je me rends compte qu'il avait une mère très talentueuse. Il un fb, Nico Andy et velvet underground. Et Alain Delon n'a même pas réagi à la mort de ce fils qu'il n'a jamais reconnu. Lui même a eu un avc mais à des enfants pour l'aider
Great video! Thanks! 🙏🏻❤️
oh my god you are my favourite channel there is not a single bad video on here, keep up the good work!
Great video, thanks!
Nico did not have yugoslav-spanish parents. She made it up to become more interesting. By blood she was purely German (Christina Päffgen from Cologne). She did not speak seven languages fluently either but three: German, French and English.
So powerfully interesting, thank you
Rest in peace nico,I was your fan,I love you singing I'm not saying💖🌈😘👍💖,you may be gone but your not forgotten amen,💖😘🌈
Very forgiving of you.
OMG 30 minutes of talking about one of the most enigmatic voices in music!! while her personal beliefs and bigotry has a permeated stain on her legacy, there's no doubt her heavy influence on the world , specifically gothic and alternative culture
I can see why she found Morison a fellow soul. Two increadible artists.
Awesome account of the most complicated artist I can think of.
Very well done! I honestly wished it was longer. I actually still love the Chelsea Girls album even tho it was nothing like what she wanted.
wow cool i never knew any of this stuff thanks for making the video
GREAT VIDEO!!!
Wonderful video!
You weren't lying about "Afraid."
wow! I didn't realize how mean Lou Reed was to her. My gawd, there was incredible jealousy and outright hostility towards her for being a female creative genius (and a "beautiful" one at that)... ! I hope that she can feel how much we love and appreciate her, wherever she is now. She had to go through so much just to exist!!!! I don't think being a female artist/musician holds nearly the same EGO rewards that male artists enjoy... talented women often intimidate and repel people... she had no choice but to embrace it and make it her own.
oh! we can't forget, that the other "choice" she could have made would've been to not pursue her groundbreaking art!!! She could have lived a quiet, conventional life and just forgotten about all that was living and breathing inside her... many women make that choice!!! her accomplishments cannot be overestimated. she was a complete radical, pioneer and then some...
do you not see the irony in that? Paraphrasing obviously: “Lou was so mean to her for being a woman.” And “Women artists don’t have as much ego as men.” Great observation Lou jr
@@cahyasatixoxo7207 what do you find wrong with what I said? do you feel that is different than what happened to her ?
@@cahyasatixoxo7207 I didn't say they didn't have as much ego, but the "ego rewards" are not the same for men and women. I don't feel the groupie factor is the same for men and women at all. That's what I mean. I don't think you were actually paying attention to what I said, but you did want to make sure you insulted me, so, you're kinda seeming like a d*ck anwyay.
Anyone know which song BRIAN JONES played gtr on the " Im Not Saying"/"The Last Mile"? Yes Jimmy Page played on both sides and Arranged and conducted. JPJs auditioned or found her. Thanx
Forever grateful to royal tennenbaums for introducing me to her
Isn’t this taken from the book by James Young? Excerpts definitely are.
Nico's take on female autonomy is interesting. Given a choice of means of losing autonomy-losing her autonomy to men or to drugs-she chose the drugs because the drugs hindered her creativity less than the men did. I still wish that she had got a manager, in the early 70s. But such a manager would have to be tough to be equal to the male world of the music business. Strong women managers of creative artists were rare in her world. Who knows? Such a manager might have helped/pushed her to clean up from the drugs, which might have lengthened her life. But Nico was good at littering her life with 'what if's' for others to wonder about.....
Love the comments on Nico,I'm a Nico fan, I love her singing I'm not saying,and her version singing Sunday morning,and I'll be your mirror,to me I dedicate 🏆🏆🏆🏆to you ,rest in peace Nico,your not forgotten amen 🌹,🏆👍💗😘🎥🏆🌟💟⭐🌼🌷📹🌠🌸✌️😘👍🏆🌟
Ever listened NICO & TANGERINE DREAM live (in Köln, i think)? Very glacial experience
23:15 I totally goofed. It's Frazier MOHAWK, not Frazier Hawk. Sorry, Mr. Mohawk
Amazing video, it was a weird feeling when you said you challenge people not to cry during this one specific song, because my eyes were already watery... I always thought that The Marble Index is astonishingly beautiful, but I learned a lot about Nico from this video and I have even more respect for her than I had before. But one thing that is confusing to me about her is her alleged nazi views? I wonder if she really believed in aryan race superiority etc
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. In regards to the n*zi stuff, she was definitely very bigoted. But it’s also weird cause, in true Nico fashion, she constantly went back and forth about it. In her childhood diary she called the n*zis in WWII “vile, German pigs,” but then went on to display racist and anti-Semitic behavior herself. I guess we’ll never know how she truly felt but as we know, words and actions are everything, and that’s definitely put a disappointing dent in her legacy
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents i wish this stuff would have been mentioned in the video, rather than left as a footnote in the comments. even if u don't believe her racism comes through in her music, i think it's important to discuss it as part of who she was
@@transrightsbaybee believe me I definitely considered it, but unpacking that whole mess is going to require much more than 5-10 minutes of a 30-minute video and the past few months of working on this script, life events getting in the way, and on top of the “separating the art from the artist” video, I was already exhausted and overworked. I’ve been planning a follow-up video on the later years and her unfavorable qualities (racism, internalized misogyny, etc.) but I’m going to have to be in a stable headspace when I do it.
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents thanks for the reply!. i think its ok to leave out, considering how there's tons of work going into this already and like u said including a discussion of her politics or bigotry would probably multiply that a lot. but i feel it wouldve been better if it had at least been mentioned, even if all u said was what you've said in this thread about how she held and expressed a lot of bigoted beliefs, but that she hated n*zis and sometimes contradicted that bigotry, and that you were considering making a separate video to discuss it because it was so complicated. Or maybe a pinned comment or a note in the description to that effect.
but I don't want you to think i didn't like the video! it was an excellent synopsis of Nico's career and a very fascinating story that i never knew much about , so i'm really glad i watched this. this channel is really a blessing, making such great stuff with such a small viewership [:
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents Oh yeah - it's such a dangerous and difficult thing; to hold up a writer's thoughts/actions or things they have said as possibly being 'part of their art', or an influence. If this was truly the case then must I stop listening to Wagner's music - because he actively campaigned to ban Jewish writers from performing their works live? How far back can we dare go with 'cancel culture'? If we cannot separate the art from the artist... we may end up with 'not a lot of art'. So sad - "Nico had a drug problem" so they wouldn't name a square after her; ALL the Romantic Poets had drug problems, yet they are held up as geniuses; many places named in their honour. Double standards xx
if you start crying I'm gonna start crying
I am a woman from Nicos Era. Women were so oppressed in the arts. The story of Nico as an female artist men tried to destroy happened to many of us. Womens art hidden marginalized. Destroyed. Misogyny is real and weaponized. It is only a fraction better today but i am hopeful
When Nico died, it tore a hole in my chest that has never healed.
Never were cool "alternative" beautiful girls like Nico when i was young where i came of age (western canada) thats for sure....I would look at those pictures of her on the VU banana album and wonder where those type of girls could be found haha - well i guess New York City would be the answer....in retrospect its probably a good thing i never found one of those cool beautiful Nico-esque alt girls back then - they would have eaten a schmuck like me at that time alive haha (p.s. excellent well researched documentary,2 thumbs up!)
If Claudine Longet was the Chanteuse who Nico snuffed out, it was probably with a revolver to dish out some of that 'Circle of Life' Spider Sabich Karma.
I felt conflicted watching this, because on the one hand I don't know much about her and Nico sounds like a really fascinating and groundbreaking artist, but I've also read a bit about her incidents of racist and antisemitic behavior and it surprised me that the video never addresses it, either to dispute the claims or provide context. It kinda seems like whenever it comes up with fans as far as I've seen they just don't really care and it bugs me.
Antisemitic...? Her only son's name was Aaron
Vocal fry is a plague
Great video. When I first listened to the VU I immediately sought out Nico's music and bought her first 45. My favourite song is also Afraid just as you said , painful and beautiful. Thank you !!!!
Theres no crying in rock n roll.
I’ve read lots of rock biographies and autobiographies - no one has a good word for Lou Reed. He comes across as spiteful, massively egotistical and just not very nice. Countless artists that have encountered him
attest to it. Nico suffered a great deal in her life - not least in her relationship with the French actor Alain Delon who has just died (18.08.24). They had a child together, Ari, but Delon never publicly acknowledged paternity. Ari was raised by Delon’s mother and generally ignored by Delon. Ari died of a heroin overdose in 2023.
23:38 What about The Sorrows of Young Werther.
So important her legacy influenced Patti Smith and Siouxsie Sioux .
What clip did you use for 13:32
A very strange and wonderful human , I really think she could of become more , if she would have followed the songs from Gordon lightfoot and Dylan ,her voice seemed to follow that folk rock sound and a bit of the France vibe music combined . Gothic at the time in the 60s was not really followed. The video of her singing "I'm not saying" was wonderful and fit her haunted persona perfectly and a Euro folk artist and could have gone a long way , her voice is so good .
History never had a Betty Smith , it was Bessie Smith .
Girl Bessie is what I said, I was mad congested the day I recorded this, give me a break 😂
@@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents Sounded like Betty , sorry.
I'mimpressed! I had long known about Nico but I got serious about her in the 1980's when I bought her last two albums, "Drama of Exile" and the live cassette=only "Do or Die," one as part of a close-out sale from a record store that was going ou9t of business. I still love both these albums and am a bit surprised you didn't mention them in this video. Other than that, you did a great job profiling a still unjustly neglected artist (and thanks for explaining why the "Chelsea Girl" album was so boring and awful, and not truly worthy of her).
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When I was in Europe as a student in the early 70s the Kriegkindern stood out. They were different than those of us born right after the war.
Dylan used to lead interviewers down a merry path!!!😁😁😁
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Sail away my little boy....
It really frustrates me the level of contempt people seem to have towards Nico specifically which they don’t seem to apply towards the tons of male(usually white)artists who were far worse. I’ve even seen people cheer on an instance of Jim Morrison hitting her once. I don’t want to sound like I’m excusing her actions, I’m definitely not, but it’s just so upsetting that even in death she can’t seem to escape the rampant misogyny that plagued her whole life.
Yes, you are so right. People get on a wagon about people. Someone starts it and the sherp echo the soundbites. It is such a horrid, Lord Of The Flies vibe. Misogyny is sometimes worse towards beautiful and intelligent women.. and other women become hostile also.🙌
I say all this, love Nicos creative works, but despise her racist views. ❤
Someone comment on her abandonment of Ari, her son.
She did not abandon him you ass. She left him in the care of Delon's mother who took very good care of him. Stop trying to sensationalize things
I guess my comment which I thought was positive but too long hasn’t seemed to make it. I can only hope someone somewhere read it and might understand a little bit more.
she was also an anti semite and a racist who assaulted a black woman for literally no reason at all
Going to strive a little harder for those moral superiority points buddy?
I haven't met many vapid models..they're are a couple but i grew up with a runway model we spent 10 years together and on and off from youth she was anything but vapid... she and i were hunting the remnants of William S. Burroughs , Brion Gysin, Ian sommerville, Coil, Throbbing gristle, Stephen Stapleton, DIJ, NON, Current 93, KK Null,merzbow, we met John Kale at ottays in North Texas,..... i think the orator on this is missing the scene of extreme s&m and heroin resulting in the hard caricature of human as object..... experimental musicians give Nico credit.