Going Underground. Poem by Ripper Jones

First heard at Beatles party in Brynmill,
Dischordant dissonance with added feedback.
At its best when played on a sixties
Mono phonograph.
Who's that?
It was the Velvet Underground.

Two years by, in Ealing,
Glasgow Billy said, with a knowing smile,
'He's Welsh you know' John Cale
Talking us through 'The Gift'
This time in stereo,
John Cale with his valley accent
On one speaker,
The Music on the other speaker.
Strange mood for a strange time

So sad as Nico sang
'I'll be your mirror'
And Lou Reed's 'Heroin'
Was from a world I did not know
Waiting for the next fix,
Waiting for his man

And then the conscious art object,
Of Andy Warhol
Lives on after life has gone.