“That’s how you get when you are writing and you have lived through the war,” she said, “always writing about gloomy things. In 1943, when she was five, her father was killed by the Nazis. She attributed her worldview to growing up in Berlin during World War II. Nico Drama of Exile, Modern Harmonic 1981 But she’s stopped talking and her mind has drifted elsewhere. “Yes, I’m going to do this record, Drama of Exile, and I have to do it quick or else something might happen, because I’ve waited four-and-a-half years to do it.” “I was under contract to some terrible guy who wanted a percentage of my next record, although I had nothing to do with him anymore, besides The End. “I’ve been hesitating, I guess,” she said. “You want me to tell you what I do every day?” she asked me, unsure at first what I’m driving at. Nico had not released an album since The End in 1974. She smiled ever so slightly and had moved on, said she was enjoying the cheddar cheese goldfish crackers the bartender has brought us to accompany her Bloody Mary and beer on this dreary, rainy day. I looked at her encouragingly to expound. I wanted to ask her about those “days of exception,” what those were like. She didn’t resolve the contradiction I’m not sure she knows she made one. “I hate New York,” she said, but a moment later adds, “I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.” Nico had been living in New York for a little over two months, after almost a year in Berlin. “I’ve been in a bad mood since I’ve been in New York. Nevertheless, overall, she said, “My mood has been grouchy,” spending over a minute searching for the right adjective. Sometimes you wake up and it’s really terrible… as if the whole thing would collapse.” “I woke up three times,” she told me, “and the last one was the best - I remained in a good mood. It was June, 1979 and we’re in a hotel cocktail lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts the day after a shaky Boston concert at the Paradise club. The songs she chose to sing - from the Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties” to “Femme Fatale” to the Doors’ “The End” - were rendered in shades of black or gray, the musical movement a slow, downward spiral. Nico spoke as she sang, in a deep mournful voice, which even during the lighter moments – and she did banter between songs in concert – was tinged with sadness. Nico on the cover of Chelsea Girl (Image: Discogs)
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