Introduction
I suppose that you have at least heard the name Suzanne Vega every now
and then if you're a little bit interested in the music business. If you
have not then it's high time. One might say that she is something like
the founding mother of the Folk scene, not in the sense that she was the
first Folk singer/songwriter but rather in the sense that she was amongst
the first who stepped into the light, coming out from the clubs. All the
women of today, like Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Loeb,
etc., who are successful and more or less famous in a wide area, owe a
lot to the women who made those first steps.
Most people, when asked about Suzanne Vega, will say something that
basically amounts to "Oh, that Luka chick". Luka was her biggest
hit so far, although one may argue whether it is her best song or not;
I don't think so, by the way. Furthermore many people in countries, where
english is a foreign language, don't understand the lyrics and simply react
to the melody and the voice. While this may be a valid reason to buy records
from singers like Phil Collins or Mariah Carey, it is never enough for
a person like Suzanne Vega. She does have her amount of songs with catchy
tunes, but everybody who really listens will find out that the lyrics may
not fit the happy music, but are rather tragic. Luka is a prime
example for that, as it is about a boy who is abused, a fact you wouldn't
be able to guess from the melody alone, that would fit to a love song as well.
And the lyrics are the crucial point in the work of Suzanne Vega. If
you take any one of her songs you will find more images, poetry,
depth, and philosophy than in a whole album of, say, Celine Dion. Now you
may argue, I don't want all of that, all I want is to have some pretty women
on stage singing happy songs and shaking certain parts of their bodies. Well,
that's okay, in this case go and look for one of those Spice Girls
Homepages, but don't complain in a couple of years, when all the
fame and the silicone have gone and you realize that you can throw
away all those records
you bought, because they simply have so simple lyrics and tunes that you
can't stand them any longer. But with Suzanne Vega it is completely different,
her lyrics will still be valid in, say, 20 years from now, although it
may well be that you prefer a different song over the others, due to your
experiences in life.
Don't get me wrong, Suzanne Vega does sing about problems in the daily
life, of love, pain, violence, dreams, solitude, and everything else, but
it's the way that she does it, that makes the difference. She doesn't
hide her topics under a jungle of phrases so that you have to be a
psychiatrist to sort it all out, but
she embroids them with poetic images and captivating words.
Several songs are open to various ways of interpreting the lyrics,
and different people see different things, persons and events in
them. This is perfectly okay, and amongst her fans there are many
discussions about the meanings of songs, although the accepted
doctrine is that the true meaning of a song is the meaning you see in
it. As a matter of fact, the meaning of a song may even change during
time, as you discover new facettes in the lyrics and/or the melody.
If you're not yet familiar with Vega's ouvre, a good starting point
might be Tried and True, her first Best Of collection that
starts with her two best known songs, Luka and Tom's
Diner, so you can plunge into her fascinating universe and get
yourself lost in it. Rest assured, you won't want to find out again.
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