(that’s not Nico in the video – I don’t know who that is or who made it)
‘Afraid’, from Nico’s “Desertshore” 1970.
Cease to know or to tell
Or to see or to be your own
Cease to know or to tell
Or to see or to be your own
Have someone else’s will as your own
Have someone else’s will as your own
You are beautiful and you are alone
You are beautiful and you are alone
Often the ardorless and plain
Reward your grace
Often the ardorless and plain
Reward your grace
Confuse your hunger capture the fake
Confuse your hunger capture the fake
Banish the faceless reward your grace
Banish the faceless reward your grace
Nico is a muse of purple prose. She’s been called an ice queen, a moon goddess, an earth mother, the foghorn on the Bismarck, and in Warhol’s words “An IMB computer with a Garbo accent”. She was an icon who hated and rejected stardom. Her story is one long willfull downward spiral.
She was born Christa Paffgen in Cologne, Germany in 1938. She moved to Paris while still in her teens, where she became a successful model. During this time she took the name Nico. She was cast in “La Dolce Vita”. Fellini was struck by her beauty and charisma and wanted to expand her role. But Nico did not wish to work the extra hours. She appears in the movie as a guest at a party in one scene. She came to London in the 60′s. She was Pop Girl of 66. Rolling Stones impresario Andrew Loog Oldham attempted to do for her what he had done for Marianne Faithfull and make her a wistfull blonde folk star. But Nico proved less malleable than Faithfull had been. She hated publicity and fled to New York. She came to the Factory. Andy Warhol ‘volunteered’ her to sing with the Velvet Underground in return for his fame and financial support. Her prescense caused resentment and jealousy within the group. She left. She started writing her own songs, learned to play harmonium, henna’d her hair and fell away from the spotlight. She made a series of solo albums. She became a heroin addict. The world forgot her name. She toured and recorded sporadically to support her addiction. She kicked the habit only to die in 1988 from a concussion. She is my hero.
She hated interviews, she hated acting, she hated to be photographed, she hated performing, she hated attention and she hated being a star.
You can learn more … watch the documentary “NicoIcon” and read James Young’s “Nico: the End”.
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