I’d like to try to illustrate Nico’s style by looking at her work on the
three albums which follow Chelsea Girl, and which form the core
of her work, Marble Index, Desertshore, and The End.
Marble Index represents the first album featuring music composed by Nico
(with the slight exception of the one cut on Chelsea Girl). In
fact, of the 26 cuts on the three albums (this number includes two
previously unreleased tracks now contained on the CD version of
Marble Index) only two are not penned by Nico, and these two are
highly personal choices: "The End," by the Doors and Jim Morrison (with
whom Nico had a brief relationship that was to have a profound effect on
her; according to Richard Witts, Nico was encouraged to write music by
Jim Morrison, who also suggested a working method for her) and "Das Lied
der Deutschen," the German national anthem. Significantly, Nico sang all
of the verses banned since the end of World War II and often dedicated
concert performances to members of the Baader-Meinhoff gang, as succinct
an indication of Nico’s politics as any. In fact (according to Witts
again) Nico meant this song as a kind of critique of her native land.
The Marble Index contains a number of songs which seem somewhat
"arranged" or "produced," whereas both Desertshore and The End manage to
preserve more of the quality of Nico alone with her harmonium. On The
End in particular, Cale, along with Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera provide
perhaps the best accompaniment that Nico was to ever receive. A majority
of the songs on The Marble Index obscure Nico’s harmonium, and sometimes
the effect is distracting ("Lawns of Dawns," for instance). Other times,
though, the arrangements are just right. An example would be "Evening of
Light," where Cale’s restless and dissonant arrangement works perfectly
within Nico’s song structure to create an effect of growing tension.
Nico’s style doesn’t always mix well with other instruments, which is
why she is most effective, generally, accompanying herself. When one
performs with other musicians, after all, there is usually a pulse that
serves in part to keep everyone together. This was one of the chief
complaints of the Velvet Underground against her. In "Evening of Light"
Nico’s free-flowing rhythm and melismatic style finds a home within the
swirling strings provided by Cale.
Obviously, no song of Nico’s contains every stylistic element I listed
above. However, some songs come closer than others. "Janitor of Lunacy,"
the opening cut on Desertshore, is an example of one of the few songs on
her albums that consist solely of her voice and the harmonium. If Nico’s
characteristic style on the harmonium is to put melodic material in the
left hand with repetitive figures in the right, then already I have to
declare a deviation, because this song opens, dramatically, with a
swirling ostinato rhythm in the left hand. The effect is somewhat
reminiscent of Philip Glass.
The song’s melody is then introduced in the right hand. The melody is
completely played through, and new melodic material is introduced--one
would be tempted to call this the bridge except that it doesn’t lead
anywhere. Instead, Nico’a voice enters with the melody, in a register
somewhat higher than we tend to associate her with. Her voice here is
piercing, and this adds to the sense of drama. Melismas are kept to a
minimum (more deviations!) but parallel motion is featured prominently:
with her right hand, Nico matches her vocal line with the harmonium at
the interval of a perfect fourth. This is a harmonic principle highly
characteristic of medieval music and would be recognizable as such by
most who have had the chance to hear medieval music.
Another stylistic element typical of Nico in this song is her use of the
harmonium to provide short quasi-melodic fills in between her sung
phrases. The effect here might also seem medieval, but is more
reminiscent of Arabic music (and, given the influence of Arabic culture
on Europe in the Middle Ages, these two qualities are not so far apart).
Despite the fact that "Janitor of Lunacy" deviates some from my list of
stylistic qualities, it is instantly recognizable as a Nico song, and
when people think of Nico’s style, they probably think of something very
close to "Janitor of Lunacy."
I’ve mentioned the song’s dramatic qualities. Unfortunately, these are
somewhat undercut by the lyrics. I mean, just what the hell is a janitor
of lunacy? It calls up frankly ridiculous images that work against the
music. Not all of the lyrics in the song are so ludicrous, but neither
do they communicate anything very specific. Then again, as someone once
said, messages are for Western Union.
Next page: Cease to know . . .
