Suzanne Vega was my first concert and the first cassette (yes
cassette !) I bought after I started working. She was an enticing mixture of cool
female voice, guitar and 80s sheen
production, even before CDs.
Led by Joni Mitchell, the early 1970s had seen the rise of
female singer / songwriter / acoustic guitar, but by 1984 it was very much out
of fashion. But Vega was a trailblazer
for the 80s revival, with her obvious influence of Bob Dylan, but also Leonard
Cohen and Lou Reed. She emerged from the
same Greenwich Village coffee shops as
Dylan over two decades earlier.
Marlene on the Wall was the first single from her first
album and remains a key song. I don’t know what it all means (this is
likely to be a recurring theme of this blog), but then unravelling the lyrics
are part of the attraction.
The main concept relates to a poster of 1920s film star Marlene Dietrich
that Vega hung her wall in her New York apartment, and imagining Dietrich's
reactions and advice.
There are definitely
dark themes - with possibly an abusive relationship
("blood", "danger
zone"), loss of virginity ("don’t give away the goods too soon"),
loneliness ("still alone") and
promiscuity ("every soldier
passing" ). Marlene had seen it all
before.
The structure has two verses repeated, frequent chorus and an
extended guitar break. At the end there is also the emphasis of the
"changing changing changing my destiny". It sounds like she is taking control now and she will force the changes ? I am also curious about how his fist is
handsome?
As often, the dark themes can be obscured by the upbeat pop music
backing. It was a trick Vega pulled off again with "Luka",
and why people play "Every Breath You Take" at weddings .
So "Marlene on the Wall" still sounds as intriguing
as it did 35 years ago, and a good place to start my reviews.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXb6Lb_h0Oo
Hear Next – the
first album "Suzanne Vega" remains an 80s classic, with acoustic
guitar led stories of life and relationships
in a city setting. After that
there are the obvious singles such as "Luka", "Left of Centre"
and "Tom's Diner", but all of her subsequent albums have high quality
song writing, and I particularly like 99.9F.
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats.
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats.
