"Venus in Furs" was one of three songs to be re-recorded, in May 1966 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, before appearing on the final mix of The Velvet Underground & Nico (the other two being "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man").
In his essay "Venus in Furs by the Velvet Underground", Erich Kuersten writes: There is no intro or buildup to the song; the track starts as if you opened a door to a decadent Marrakesh S&M/opium den, a blast of air-conditioned Middle Eastern menace with a plodding beat that's the missing link between "Bolero" and Led Zeppelin's version of "When the Levee Breaks".
[4] Morrison cited "Venus in Furs" as his favorite Velvet Underground song, as he believed it was where the band achieved the sound that they had sought.
[5] "Venus in Furs" was one of several songs to be recorded by Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison at their Ludlow Street loft in July 1965.
This demo version of the song features Cale on lead vocals and a drastically different arrangement than would appear on The Velvet Underground & Nico, ending with what David Fricke calls a "stark, Olde English-style folk lament" in the liner notes for Peel Slowly and See.