According to Reed, the title was inspired by Warhol saying, about Sedgwick, "Oh, don't you think she's a femme fatale, Lou?

[9] The following year it was included in their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico.

A 1969 live recording of the song was included in Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes released in 2001.

[1] AllMusic critic Mark Deming thought that "Femme Fatale" was among the four best songs on the album.

[10] American music journalist Stephen Davis called "Femme Fatale" a beautiful song that portrays the vivid, conflicted and emotional undercurrents of 1966.