In late 1966, "Sunday Morning" was the final song to be recorded for
The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was requested by
Tom Wilson, who thought the album needed another song with lead vocals by
Nico with the potential to be a successful
single. The final master tape of side one of the album shows "Sunday Morning" only penciled in before "
I'm Waiting for the Man". In November 1966, Wilson brought the band into
Mayfair Recording Studios in
Manhattan. The song was written with Nico's voice in mind by
Lou Reed and
John Cale on a Sunday morning. The band previously performed it live with Nico singing lead, but when it came time to record it,
Lou Reed sang the lead vocal. Nico would instead sing backing vocals on the song. Aiming to create a hit for the album, "Sunday Morning" features noticeably more lush and professional production than the rest of the songs on the album. The song's prominent use of
celesta was the idea of
John Cale, who noticed the instrument in the studio and decided to use it for the song. He also played
viola and
piano via
overdubs while
Sterling Morrison, normally the secondary guitarist, played
bass, despite his dislike of playing the instrument. According to Reed, the song's theme was suggested by
Andy Warhol. "Andy said, 'Why don't you just make it a song about paranoia?' I thought that was great so I came up with 'Watch out, the world's behind you, there's always someone around you who will call... It's nothing at all' which I feel is the ultimate paranoid statement in that the world cares enough to watch you." ==Reception==