X is the Y of Z

“X is the Y of Z” is a snowclone–an adaptable, Mad Libs-like idiom like “May I compare thee to an X?”, “X is the new Y,” and “I for one welcome our new X overlords.” This snowclone touches on every subject imaginable, including music. So without further adieu, today’s topic is…

The Velvet Underground

Few bands have the indie cred of the Velvet Underground, who pretty much invented the concept. Forever known for a small following with a mega-normous influence, it is an honor to be called the VU of anything—even though, like many honors, it comes with little cashola.

I wonder who is the Velvet Underground of the animal kingdom… I vote for the naked mole rat, giant spitting earthworm, or goliath bird-eating spider. All are quite influential, and they’ve all collaborated with Lou Reed. What more could you want?

“A bravura performance, and one that we can hope will expand the audience for the Velvet Underground of crime protagonists**.”

(Aug. 12, 2009, Darwyn Cooke, On Deaf Ears)

“BenLippmeier: Are Haskell and OCaml destined to be The Velvet Underground of programming languages, where hardly anyone has heard them, but everyone who does forms a band?”

(Aug. 8, 2009, Haskell Weekly News)

“It’s the Velvet Underground of business books – everyone who read it formed a dodgy start-up!”

(April 28, 2009, Freaky Trigger)

“The Velvet Underground of Italian Renaissance painting”

(April 9, 2009, Kevin Higgins, Galway Advertiser)

“You might say the Cranbook Academy of Art is the Velvet Underground of art education.”

((Dec. 6, 2007, Nancy Kaffer, Metromode)

“New Line Goes Bionic: New Line purchases spoof script The $40,000 Man from writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, about a bionic man built on a budget. This is first script sale for Daley, better known as Sam Weir in Freaks and Geeks, the show that’s becoming the Velvet Underground of comedy writing. We guess our analogy doesn’t precisely track, but we like it anyway.”

(June 19, 2007, New York)

“I saw a picture of the interior of St. Denis a few years ago, and was completely in love from that point on. It’s the original gothic church. It’s like the Velvet Underground of churches. :) That’s where I would go first on my tour of cathedrals.”

(July 7, 2002, Pipe Smokers Google Group)

“Hindalong: We feel that way. We feel that it was the first modern worship record. There was an obvious void in the Christian market. That¹s why we started the Glass House label. I like to think that it was influential. You know, I think somebody should leak that phrase, that The Choir is the Velvet Underground of Christian music.”

(June 25, 2002, John Hindalong, UK Christian Music Google Group)

Mark Peters is a language columnist and humorist who writes for Good, Visual Thesaurus and other mags, while maintaining too many blogs, including Wordlustitude, The Rosa Parks of Blogs, and The Pancake Proverbs.

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