AllMusic

Lou Reed once said, "If God showed up tomorrow and said, 'Do you want to be president?' 'No.' 'Do you want to be in politics?' 'No.' 'Do you want to be a lawyer?' 'No.' 'What do you want?' 'I want to be a rhythm guitar player.'" No one who's ever heard Reed play the song "What Goes On," which first appeared on the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album, would doubt that statement for a moment. Reed's furious, dead-solid-perfect guitar is the backbone of the original recording of the tune, and he doesn't miss a beat for a good four and a half minutes; as he wails with a palpable joy "Lady be good/Do what you should/It's gonna be all right," he sounds happier to be alive than on anything the Velvets ever cut. Reed's live performances of the song were, if anything, even wilder; 1969 Velvet Underground Live preserves an almost nine-minute take of "What Goes On" that's so frantic you work up a sweat just listening to it, while the box set Peel Slowly And See unearthed a version from a 1968 performance in Cleveland, OH, that ranks with the most hypnotic and otherworldly performances the Velvet Underground ever played in front of a tape recorder. The Feelies were a band who embraced the Velvet Underground's lessons in guitar texture as few others have, and it's appropriate that their 1988 cover of the song, which closes out the album Only Life, ranks with the most passionate, physical, and exciting moments of their career.