Vicious

Reed told Rolling Stone that Warhol suggested the idea. Warhol said he should write a song called Vicious, and when Reed asked what kind of vicious, Warhol said it was like hitting you with a flower. Reed said he wrote it down literally. The song opens Transformer and came out as a single in April 1973. Nick Tosches, who was lukewarm on the album in Rolling Stone, called it "the best song he's done since the days of the Velvet Underground". Pitchfork described it as a stiff, snot-nosed Godzilla of a rock song. Cash Box called it a driving rocker with a great story line. A tape of the Cleveland Music Hall show on 22 December 1972 lists it at 3:12, second in the set. It was used in an episode of the television series Billions.