Bang on a Can

In the 60's I was a squeaky-clean kid growing up in Los Angeles. I was shy and sheltered, and everything I knew was something I had read in a book. Then I heard rock and roll, and my life changed. I loved the music and I loved the words. It was the first time I had encountered an art form that was aimed at someone my age. When I heard the first Velvet Underground record I was blown away. The music was so powerful, so visceral and mysterious. But it was the text that I really responded to-- the poetry of Lou Reed. The energy of New York was in the words-living by your wits, doing drugs, having sex. I'm now a squeaky-clean middle-aged man. But I did move to New York. -David Lang

Heroin was commissioned by the Next Wave Festival of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; from Songs for Lou Reed, commissioned by Bang on a Can with funds provided by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. 'Heroin' video was commissioned with support from June and Daniel Lang.
Sunday Morning from Songs for Lou Reed was commissioned by Bang on a Can with funds provided by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. Heroin and Sunday Morning were written by Lou Reed and John Cale, with additional music contributed by David Lang; published by Oakfield Avenue Music, Ltd. c/o Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc. (BMI).