Songs for Drella is a
concept album by
Lou Reed and
John Cale, both formerly of
the Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of
Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by
Warhol superstar Ondine, a contraction of
Dracula and
Cinderella, used by Warhol's crowd but never liked by Warhol himself. The song cycle focuses on Warhol's interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol's first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.