nico - frozen warnings

there are those in every creative pursuit who begin or drift left of center and so avoid or lose their share of “the spotlight” and so you could argue that perhaps drifting left of centre was their conscious intent in the first place. in that way they steer clear of compromise and avoid the empty judgement that fame represents. many of the musicians i call my favourites have taken this course of action with the result being that their names and music and achievements like those of the talented singer nico, remain an experience i relish as part of life’s fabric but which most people have never heard of.

nico (born christa päffgen) took her name from photographer herbert tobias, who christened her "nico" after his ex-boyfriend. following a stint of modelling and several short-lived musical connections / relationships with serge gainsbourg, rolling stones guitarist brian jones, and bob dylan, nico crossed paths with andy warhol and became involved in a variety of film projects with him that eventually led to her being introduced to “the velvet underground”. the velvets at that point were a backup band for warhol’s exploding plastic inevitable - a multimedia experience. nico appeared on the velvet underground’s debut album ”the velvet underground and nico”.

to relive some of the glory that was the late sixties, step away from the present and travel back 41 years to “all tomorrow’s parties” featuring nico’s lead vocals . . .


in the same year that this song was released, nico and the velvets parted ways and nico pursued her solo career. the marble index, arguably her finest work was released in 1968.
the album featured long-term associate john cale, a musician who had worked briefly with nico during her stint in the velvet underground. cale had an extensive background in various avant-garde settings, working with minimalist composer lamonte young, among others. as you will hear in the single example i’d like to share with you, cale and nico created music that radically deviated from traditional rock music song structures.

the song i would like to share is entitled “frozen warnings”. here are the lyrics . . .

friar hermit stumbles over
the cloudy borderline
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline

into numberless reflections
rises a smile from your eyes into mine
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline

over railroad station tracks
faintly flickers a modest cry
from without a thousand cycles
a thousand cycles to come
a thousand times to win
a thousand ways to run the world
in a similar reply

friar hermit stumbles over
the cloudy borderline
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline
frozen warnings close to mine
close to the frozen borderline

close to the frozen borderline
close to the frozen borderline
close to the frozen borderline . . . .

the insightful fragments of cale blog offers these observations and opinions on frozen warnings.

here is nico’s original version of this haunting song as first heard on her masterwork ”the marble index” . . .

here is john cale’s impassioned and very masculine delivery of the same tune as part of a documentary on nico . . .


and finally here is nico in 1983 singing live in manchester. the addition of echo on her voice adds depth to the piece but it is her matured voice that really carries this song into the realm of music beyond the commonplace . . .