Suzanne Vega
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- 9OOD - First Impressions -
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Subj: Lyrics of Desire
Date: 96-07-09 21:56:28 EDT
From: arel@pc.jaring.my (Khairyl Yassin)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@law.emory.edu
Dear Eric and all Webmates,
Thanks a million Eric (and Suzanne), for the sneak preview of the lyrics. It's a great privilege of being on Undertow, or a frequent Suzanne website visitor. The lyrics are *all* wonderful. I was so excited when you announced that the lyrics were now available, I "ran" (borrowing your word, U212) to the homepage and printed out every single song.
Birth-day (Love Made Real), a would-be birth labor anthem, stands out, as well as the erotic Stockings. I also love My Favorite Plum and World Before Columbus. The lyrics seem to be a departure from her previous works. They feel more immediate, warmer and even child-like at times. There is a very direct quality to these lyrics, somehow they feel like they have not gone through the rigorous "sculpting and resculpting" process that I imagine Suzanne has always done. One word comes to mind: motherhood. It's great! I love the way Suzanne changes with each album.
I can't tell you how excited I am to listen to the whole album, hear how the lyrics are set to music, and of course, Suzanne's voice and her unique phrasing. Thanks again, Eric, for the wonderful job on the website: it's worth all the awards, and more.
Khairyl
Subj: Re: Lyrics from "Nine Objects Of Desire", firm release date, single
Date: 96-07-10 14:04:52 EDT
From: 74034.643@compuserve.com (Brian Rose)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@law.emory.edu (Undertow)
To David and others feeling trepidation concerning the impending release of Suzanne's new album:
Relax. It's a wonderful album both musically and lyrically. It may have been hard to write, but it sounds effortless. The album has atmosphere. There's no one big song, rather a groove that flows from song to song. This is an album people will listen to over and over. The songs are serious, but there's a lighter touch--a wryness that Suzanne has always had, but hasn't always been able to express musically. No attempt has been made to puff the songs up into big pop ballads. Caramel, which you've all heard, is a good example of this. Just when you expect the groove to build to a climax it holds back and the slender thread of melody and Latin rhythm remain unburdened. It's a gem as are each of the tracks on the album. I won't go on further about the other songs. Better to wait and hear them all together when the album is released.
Brian Rose
Subj: Re: Lyrics from "Nine Objects Of Desire"
Date: 96-07-10 15:22:36 EDT
From: rwalters@lafayette.unocal.com (Rob Walters)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@law.emory.edu
[ s n i p ]
The new songs, while they may be more 'immediate' or direct lyrically, still seem to me to have Suzanne's unmistakeable quality to get at the heart of an issue, whether it's a past love, as in "Headshots" (and what a unique way she leads in to that!) or a more immediate passion, as in "Caramel" or "Stockings." BTW - isn't Birthday a scary and yet slightly humourous description of the experience of a difficult birth? - "a needle here, needle there / tremble in the fog." All IMHO, of course.
As far as loving every bit of an artist's work, wasn't it our own Wendy! who said that if Suzanne put out an album of scratching noises, she would still listen? ;-)
-Rob
Subj: Some first impressions
Date: 96-09-09 10:35:09 EDT
From: algranti@club-internet.fr (David Algranti)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
I can't wait to tell you about some of my first impressions of the album, but I'll try not to reveal anything so I won't spoil your own first listening (anyway you're not forced to read this):
-The songs don't suffer at all from being too short, like in the previous
album, except that I wish there were fewer open-ended songs.
-I think that 'No Cheap Thrill' is a pretty bad choice for a single and I'd
be very surprised if it ever became a hit. They should have chosen
'Birth-day' (surprising song for Suzanne, it could have made a hit but maybe
that it would have brought a kind of public she isn't looking after),
'Headshot' (which is awesome), 'Caramel' or 'World Before Columbus'. I can
say that because this is precisely the kind of thing you can only see at the
first listenings.
-Suzanne has really changed, this album is much happier than the others,
'Tombstone' is almost funny, the piano makes me think of saloon music, and
the song reminds me a bit of 'Black Widow Station'
-'My Favorite Plum' is really sweet
-'Honeymoon Suite' is the most Suzanne-typical song
Well I can't tell you everythiong I like in the album because it would be
too long, but here are some (light) disappointments:
-It's very... weird how she repeats "Oh Yeah" in 'Stockings', but maybe it
means something in the song, I'll have to read the lyrics carefully
-I've now checked all the lyrics and it seems to me that 'World Before
Columbus' has the kind of lyrics she has always avoided (but the music is
great). Once again I haven't translated it and maybe I'll probably change my
mind soon. But moreover, when she says 'It would be as flat as the world
before Columbus', well... err... I don't know how to tell you this, Suzanne,
but Columbus never proved the world was round. Copernic made the theory long
before, and Magellan actually proved it after Colombus'death. I won't teach
anyone anything if I say that Colombus thought the world was round and so
wanted to reach India by the west, and he never did, so he didn't prove
anything at all.
And when she says 'It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus', well
I'm not sure that her (adoptive) Puerto-Rican roots that she tries to go
back to with this album would agree, it could even make them mad.
well anyway this album is more than great and it's good to see that I wasn't wrong, that I really love everything she does. What's strange is that there's really a connection between her songs and me, like I thought. I mean I already feel like I've known all these new songs long before (though they're all very innovative), they already are a part of my life.
And I think that this album can be very successful in the UK because it's a strange blend of the two UK crazes of these days: trip-hop and easy-listening music (any English undertowers can confirm that?). I don't know if it's the same in the US and I wonder if Suzanne was aware of it, but a lot of things in the album (bossa-nova, things from the 40s, 50s and 60s (like she says), plus the artwork (that I have now checked on the web)) are really close to this easy-listening fashion.
David.
Subj: Re: Some first impressions
Date: 96-09-09 11:48:02 EDT
From: rwalters@lafayette.unocal.com (Rob Walters)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Hello everyone,
!!! WARNING - 'SPOILER' for those who haven't heard the album yet !!!
David wrote:
>-I think that 'No Cheap Thrill' is a pretty bad choice for a single and I'd
>be very surprised if it ever became a hit.
Really?? Why? To me, it was an obvious choice as a first single. Very straightforward, catchy chorus, and it's got a good melody (reviewers of previous albums always complained that melody wasn't her strong suit!).
>'Birth-day' (surprising song for Suzanne, it could have made a hit but maybe
>that it would have brought a kind of public she isn't looking after),
>'Headshot' (which is awesome), 'Caramel' or 'World Before Columbus'.
Birthday (Love Made Real) is indeed a bit of a departure, but it's not too much of stretch from Blood Makes Noise. What kind of fan is she looking *not* to attact? Caramel has already been released as a single, I think. OTOH, World Before Columbus is a little more laid back, takes a while to sneak up on you. Headshots I'll agree is a great song, and maybe this could be another single, but Suzanne's not really a 'singles' artist - the strength is in the concept of the album as a whole. I'd say they were *right on* w/ NCT as the 'first' single.
>-Suzanne has really changed, this album is much happier than the others,
>'Tombstone' is almost funny, the piano makes me think of saloon music, and
>the song reminds me a bit of 'Black Widow Station'
Agreed that her perspective is different now - more emotionally involved.
Tombstone *is* kind of amusing, although the 'desire' in this case is for
death and peace and quiet
-'My Favorite Plum' is really sweet
Yes - it's just about perfect.
> I don't know how to tell you this, Suzanne,
On WBC, I wouldn't take the simile ('flat as the world before Columbus')
too literally. It's a convenient analogy she uses to make her point.
>well anyway this album is more than great and it's good to see that I wasn't
-Rob
Subj: Hurricane Fran causes delurk
Hello Suzanne and fellow undertowers.
I live in the Raleigh area in North Carolina. We are still reeling from the
hurricane. I am on my 6th day without electricity at home. Good thing I
have a CD player in my car.
Yesterday I braved flood waters, inoperative traffic signals etc. and
made it to my local CD store to pick up Nine Objects Of Desire. I love it.
Strange how some music critics equate latin influence with "lounge
music". This may take the place as my favorite SV album. I'm not sure
what my favorite cut is yet. I like Caramel and Headshots but Lolita,
Birth-day and Tombstone are also in the running. Mitch Froom deserves
a great deal of credit because the production is Incredible.
The website is really great. If you dig enough you can find SV's
comments on just about every song she has recorded, and I never
would have known one of my favorite songwriters is married to my
favorite producer.
I am performing songwriter. I am curious how many other undertowers
are musicians and/or songwriters.
E. E. Bannan
Subj: '9OOD' released Sept 6
About the new tracks: My favourite is 'Thin Man' which sounds a lot like
Steely Dan to me. Throughout the album I get Twin Peaksy feelings,
especially the break part after the chorus in 'Honeymoon Suite' and the
last track, 'My Favorite Plum'.
PS. I think that in one pic inside the leaflet Suzanne looks like Alanis
Morissette.
Subj: Finally
My NOOD CD arrived today! Just finished the first running, and loved it all,
with one reservation--"No Cheap Thrill". Although I can perhaps see why it
was selected as the first (post-release) single (It's a catchy tune, easily
accessible, and doesn't make many mental demands on the listener), I also
feel it's probably my least favourite track on the album. (Charges of
blasphemy accepted here.)
Perhaps as SV fans we've been somewhat spoiled, but for me one of the most
attractive facets of her songs are the mental imagery they evoke (at least
for me) and the effort spent trying to grasp precisely what each song is
about. For the most part, Suzanne never sings *about* something, rather she
describes the effects the subject of her song has on the people and objects
around it. (Just my personal observation -- I'm not a professional music
critic, nor do I play one on TV...)
Listening to NCT failed to really inspire any deep thoughts or emotions.
Instead, I found myself thinking that the somewhat bitter/cynical lyrics
sounded quite out of character for the sweet voice singing them. It'd be
really interesting to hear her sing this with a bit more of an edge, even a
little sarcasm -- a vocal a bit more in the "rock" arena, perhaps.
Does anyone else see what I'm saying?
OK, I'll shut up now and go back to listening to the CD...
Subj: perspective and metaphors
Hi, it seems I can't stop posting these days, but I can't wait for
discussing the new lyrics.
I've noticed two major changes in Suzanne's lyrics on NOOD: no more
perspective and much much more metaphors.
When I say 'no more perspective' I don't mean that she's no longer keeping
things in perspective (keeping her blood cold), I mean that all of her new
songs are sung by 'I' and that this 'I' seems to actually be Suzanne
herself, whereas in the past she might have BEEN the plum instead; in
Birth-day she could have been the doctor or even MF...
And no, she even loses her cold blood in 'Birth-day'. For me this song is
like a little movie, where 'you' is MF or her mother or any close relative,
or maybe the doctor. And this song begins like a march, towards like a huge
celebration, because Ruby's coming out, and then she gets furious (with
pain) and even threatens MF (or whoever 'you' is). That's the one song that
I thought should have been open-ended. Anyway, just an interpretation.
And my theory about Suzanne's lyrics used to be that she used very few (if
any) metaphors, she would just describe things as they were, and she would
for instance give Solitude its own body, which is to me kind of the opposite
of a metaphor. Now the ultimate desire - whatever it is - is represented as
a plum (see the live-chat session transcript), who knows what 'caramel' and
'cinammon' mean, and death is a 'thin man'.
Well I don't know if some would like to argue about this last one but for me
it's obvious ('when I step down the sidewalk', 'when I walk down this dark
halls', 'he's the thin man with the date for me... I don't know when it will
be'): first I thought it was just a man but he reminded me of Mrs. Solitude
so much because he seemed both always here and never really here. Then it
just popped up to me (plus Suzanne said that death was the OOD in two songs;
the first one being 'Tombstone' with no doubt).
It must be a hell of a crowded place around Suzanne, with all those abstract
feelings following her around.
I know that some of you said they didn't like hearing other people's
interpretations of the songs, but for this album, Suzanne set the rules: two
songs for Ruby ('Birth-day' and 'WBC' no doubt), one for Lolita, one for
another girl ('Stockings'), one for a plum, two for death ('Tombstone' no
doubt, and 'Thin Man' no doubt to me), two for MF ('Honeymoon Suite'
obviously and IMHO 'No Cheap Thrill' but I'm not quite sure), and one for
each of three other men ('Caramel' and 'Headshots' no doubt to me, and
wether 'No Cheap Thrill' or 'Casual Match').
But I wouldn't be surprised if Suzanne has covered her tracks and if this
was all bluff.
David.
Subj: 9OOD/WBC
Okay, I'm late, finally bought the album, and pow: instantaneous connection.
Call me impulsive, I've got no problems launching this one to the top of my
list of her records. I feel as if the voice she sought on 99.9F has come to
fruition. Let's leave alone considerations about musical labels and all, it
seems more a question of finding a musical voice the way, say, a novelist has
a voice. Not that she didn't have a voice before, but to my ears it became
more tentative for a while there. I think that was one of the things that
didn't sit completely right w/ me w/ DOOH (sorry again, Wendy!!); I didn't
sense a...a what?...a confident voice? Maybe someone knows what I mean. 99.9F
seemed a first reassertion; 9OOD exudes confidence, clarity, variety,
intrigue, purpose. Awesome.
Two other points. I've opted for 9OOD (which at least one other person has
already introduced) as a shortcut because, well, NOOD just keeps looking like
we're always about to start talking about noodles. It's a problem when
acronyms create or suggest words that have nothing to do w/ the thing being,
um, acronymized.
Last and more important: I really sort of wanted to steer clear of the WBC
debate but I thought we might all want to ponder what it says about our
cultural times when someone with a clear, obvious, even striking record of
compassion and intelligence can be questioned, can in fact feel herself
somewhat under attack, based on an interpretation of one particular song.
Please please please understand that I do not point particular fingers, I'm
just saying it's food for thought for all of us to try to remember in our
dealings with everyone, all the time, the idea of 'benefit of the doubt.' We
live in jumpy times, I guess, and that seems to make everyone ready to jump
on everyone else at the merest glimmer of a suspicion of a questionable
attitude.
I feel badly that it took that sort of thing to prompt SV back onto the list.
I sure hope she doesn't, as someone has suggested, now have second thoughts
about the song. How sad that would be; it's a beautiful piece of work. I
guess I should be more realistic in recognizing that if there are people out
there who are going to misinterpret it, she may be in for a bit of
discomfort, regardless of her intentions. But the idealist in me is saddened
by that, I can't help it.
Well anyway, I hope I, in turn, have expressed myself w/out giving offense,
because that is never my intention.
Happy listening, all..
Jeremy
Subj: Re: 9OOD
Is there anybody out there who doesn't instantaneously like
the album that much?! Just curious, I still haven't got my
copy yet - but from past experience I know that my all-time favourite
CDs grew on me over time, some of them I didn't even like the
first time at all!
Pp
Subj: Re: 9OOD
Petr Kubon wrote:
>Is there anybody out there who doesn't instantaneously like
Whenever I pick up a highly anticipated new release (like 9OOD) I try to
savor it like a great meal. Right now I'm still in the process of just
enjoying the musical sound/texture and Suzanne's splendid voice - I agree
with Jeremy513 that it's the finest she's ever sounded. But I'm nowhere
near the level of actually trying to figure out what the songs are *about* -
because if I did I'd start devouring the release, and would soon be worn out
after a month. No, I'm taking it slow here...
One thing that has jumped out at me from 9OOD is the fantastic drumming/drum
loops. The hop and skip opening to Headshots (my early favorite) adds an
enegry to the song beneath its languid exterior ... and the complexity of
Casual Match brings out all sorts of temptation to break my initial "don't
play the same song twice" rule. Kudos to all those responsible...
keith
Subj: Re: perspective and metaphors
>> It must be a hell of a crowded place around Suzanne, with all those
abstract feelings following her around. <<
How very funny! I bet she laughs really hard if she reads that. I bet it is
true. I think she must never get bored wherever she goes, either, because
she has an entire entertainment system inside her head, built in, of all
those amazing ideas and images.
You mentioned metaphors -- but Suzanne has always used tons of metaphors and
personification in her writing, because using figures of speech is a good way
to take the big universal abstract themes of life (all the emotions, events,
things common to man -- death, love, war, despair, exhilaration, annoyance at
people who cut you off in traffic) and make them into personal and concrete
images that listeners can carry around in their heads all day. "Solitude"
doesn't put a picture in your head, because it is abstract, but "Solitude
stands ..." -- that is something your brain can give form to. "If language
were liquid..." Really, you could make pages and pages of lists of Suzanne
Personification and Metaphors. (She seems to stay away from similes, which I
think is cool, because they draw attention to the fact that the thing isn't
what she is saying it is.)(I think "Today I am like a small blue thing" would
have really blown it, don't you?)
"Death is a thin man" is probably what a lot of people picture, if they have
to give an image to death. (Somebody who looks like Ichabod Crane or Mr.
Burns on the Simpsons, or that little guy from Nightmare Before Christmas?)(I
always think death is the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, from Dickens.)(What
does anybody else see?)
I teach American Lit. in high school, and I use Suzanne's music in our poetry
section to teach figures of speech, because she is such a solid writer, never
a cliche, and the students seem to catch on really quickly because they are
intrigued by her images. Me, too. I mean, I am intrigued by her images; I
don't mean, they are intrigued by me. = )
Subj: First NOOD impressions and a quick de-lurk
Hi Undertowers!
Oh me, I never post here. It's so bad of me. But last night I finally got
out of my house -- the only time I've left in the past week is to go to
school! yikes! -- for dinner with a friend, and after, since I had leftover
money, we ran across the street to Barnes and Noble. My original plan was to
buy Weetzie Bat, by Francesca Lia Block, but when they didn't have it, I
decided to tease myself by looking at NOOD, even though I knew that I
wouldn't be able to afford the $15 they'd charge for it. So I wandered to
the music section, looked at the front table, and GASP! There was Suzanne
with her redder-than-before hair and apple for only $11.99!! Much
excitement...I found myself talking to her on the cover of the album. (Yes,
I'm an idiot, but I'm also the girl who says hello and goodbye to the Tori
Amos poster in the music store down the street :) .) So of course I bought
it and herded my friend out of the store and home as fast as I could so I
could *finally* listen to the album and read all of the letters I had from
the list! (I didn't let myself read anything about NOOD because I didn't
want to spoil the surprise.... Great idea, unless you've *got* to read the
posts so you can get them organized and converted to HTML for the web page.
We all know that *I'll* be doing today... ::grin::)
First impressions -- I *love* World Before Columbus. Wendy!, I love the way
you described the song. Listening to it reminds me of when I was very small,
and at night my parents would come in and sit on my bed, and the hall light
would be on to give some light to my room, and my dad would bring his guitar
in and sing me Peter Paul & Mary and Pete Seeger and Weaver's songs to put me
to sleep.
No Cheap Thrill is another favorite...it makes me want to dance in my chair
and conduct like I do with some of my favorite Tori songs. The only problem
with this is that the chair is broken and makes squeaking noises that
interfere with the song. Oh well... :)
I like the first four songs (I'm too lazy to type them out, but you know who
they are :) a lot, too. This is just a great album. I doesn't give me the
feeling that Solitude Standing did when I first got it, though...it's more of
a Days Of Open Hand feeling for me. This is a good thing, of course...I
*loved* DOOH when I got it.
I suppose I'll go back to my little corner now...
Subj: Nine object of Desire.
It took me some time to write to you all. It is because I was listening to
NOOD for hours and hours. This is my forst letter in Undertow but I really
enjoyed reading your comments thru the last two months.
I find her last album absolutely fantastic. And since she told me that the
plum represents the acheivement, I thougt it was interesting to see the
album in a satisfaction/unsatisfaction way. Birth-day could be a song of
satisfaction (a painfull one) and My favorite Plum one of insatisfaction
(it hangs so far from me). It is mad, I look at the lyrics and I find
myself thinking that she could be talking of her career in this song. (...
I've seen the rest (best), yes and that is the one for me)
I know this may sound contradictive becaus of what I have wrote previously
but in my heart, I know that I can (or my) be out of the track.
Guillaume Lesage (Fatman [it is not a joke, i'm really fat!!!])
janvier@odyssee.net
Subj: Yabadabadooooooooh
OK !
I know that you all already have the 9OOD (well, except the ones in UK), but
I would like to share the end of my anguish....I bought it today !!
I was walking down the main street downtown, when I listen this angelical
voice singing "I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you, BUT IT'S NO
CHEAP TRHILL..."
Finaly at sale on the stores, (I thought to my buttons)- next thought- only
have the (equivalent value of my country's currency) 30 $ on my credit card
- next step - run/flew up the stares from where the sound came, grabed the
young boy who was at counter, gave him my credit card and asked the CD.
He sold me the CD, and just when I was leaving the store I remembered that I
didn't ask for the price of it....
27$, he relyed ! I got it close enough...
When I steped down to the street again, I noticed that the friend who was
with me, has certainly continued her way down the street.
It wasn't, indeed, no cheap thrill, I'll have to appologise later....
World Before Columbus is the most beautifull song that I've heard and no
words can described what I feel every time I listen it. I guess that the
closest feeling is that of a work of art that just can't be framed, and the
kind of love that I don't know, and so I take it as a gift of an emotion
that I don't know.
I like "Stockings" for its hint and also for its question "Do you Know...?"
Honeymoon Suite, it's very amusing...I wouldn't like to be in Mitchell shoes !
The middle of Birth-day is very painfull (noisy), but I guess that's not as
much as it was for Suzanne.
Bye all, I'll listen WBC again !
Subj: Most Desirable "Objects"
Dear fellow undertowers,
So, what do you guys think of the new album?
I think it's very good, although I wouldn't know at what rank as
compared to her previous albums. Musically, I think it's more satisfying
as a whole album than 99.9F, although it doesn't have the urgency of
Blood Makes Noise or the charming quirkiness of Rock In This Pocket.
Anyway, for me, "Suzanne Vega" still rules :).
I think the new direction that Suzanne is taking with her lyrics is
interesting and brave. It's quite a challenge to write in a more direct,
warmer way, while maintaining intelligence. As she said, it's less
cerebral, and more emotional. I like the change, as I feel that it's
important for artists to change, but I miss the complex, multi-layered
approach of her previous works.
Here are my favorite "Objects":
1. World Before Columbus -- Touching, emotional, one the warmest songs
that Vega has ever written. Absolutely gorgeous melody. I'm having the
clamps, tawk amongst yourselves.
2. Thin Man -- Arguably one of the most sensual songs about death, if
there was one. Cool, jazzy track recalls early Santana.
3. Caramel -- Aches with longing, it's Astrud Gilberto with bulimia.
Fatalist, like most Brazilian music, and so romantic.
4. Headshots -- Groovy and spooky. Nice little segue at the end
comparing the lost boy with a doomed relationship. But what's with that
loud snare at the chorus?
5. My Favorite Plum -- Very Angelo Badalamenti. Nice soundtrack
candidate for David Lynch's new movie "Lost Highway". Like Caramel, so
doomed, yet so romantic.
Least favorites:
1. Lolita -- weak lyrics, weak rhythms. Better chorus, but not enough to
save the pretty baby.
2. Tombstone -- here lies melody, rest in peace.
3. Stockings -- Great lyrics, bad music. That pseudo-Middle Eastern
synth break is probably the cheesiest thing Suzanne has ever done.
That's my two cent's worth. Hope I didn't offend anybody :).
Take care,
Khairyl
Subj: Less Desirable "Objects"
Hello everyone,
Khairyl wrote:
I'm going to have to give it a mixed review for now - the lyrics and
subject matter, for the most part, do not hold up (for me) under
repeated listenings. Up to this point, anyway.
> As she said, it's less
Perhaps this is the problem I'm having with it. Maybe I should say:
"I prefer the cerebral approach." Where is the clever wordplay of songs
like "Knight Moves," the inventiveness of "Language," "Ironbound/Fancy
Poultry," and "Small Blue Thing"? Not to mention the grand scope of
"Big Space," "Pilgrimage" or many of the other songs from 'Days.' IMHO,
the lyrics suffered from the 'confessional' approach and subject matter
she chose for 9OD. And the lyrics are usually her strong suit.
>1. World Before Columbus -- Touching, emotional, one the warmest songs
Now this one I agree with. A very well done, well crafted, and touching
love song.
>2. Thin Man -- Arguably one of the most sensual songs about death, if
This one didn't do much for me. I prefer her treatment of the death
figure in "Solitude Standing." I didn't care for the production on it.
>4. Headshots -- Groovy and spooky. Nice little segue at the end
Yes, I agree - and the production (keyboards) didn't detract from it.
I also like the way the doomed relationship ties in, much the same way
as in "In Liverpool," one of my favorites from 99.9F.
>1. Lolita -- weak lyrics, weak rhythms. Better chorus, but not enough to
Agreed. The weakest track by far, and no melody to speak of.
>2. Tombstone -- here lies melody, rest in peace.
This I liked a bit better, and it is slightly humourous, in a morbid kind
of way. However, the "time is burning" line weakens it, I think.
>3. Stockings -- Great lyrics, bad music. That pseudo-Middle Eastern
Good lyrics, and yes, again, I think the production detracts. So, if
anyone's still reading, I'll give (like the movie critics Siskel and
Ebert) two thumbs up - way, way up - for WBC and Headshots, and a
mixed review for the remainder of the album. Your mileage may vary,
and like Khairyl, I hope no one is offended. I did try to preface my
criticisms by saying "I prefer..." Who knows, maybe with time, more of
9OD will grow on me.
-Rob
Subj: Re: Less Desirable "Objects"
Rob Walters wrote:
>Khairyl wrote:
>>1. Lolita -- weak lyrics, weak rhythms. Better chorus, but not enough to
I basically put this one in the "Gypsy" pile ... a lot of people
like that, but it doesn't do that much for me. I have similar feelings
about "Honeymoon Suite", but a bunch of you like that, too, so ... I mean,
Suzanne, while my favourite artist, bears absolutely no relation to
anything else I listen to, so I guess I like different songs than those of
you who dig Shawn Colvin et al.
>>3. Stockings -- Great lyrics, bad music. That pseudo-Middle Eastern
Now this I would have to disagree with. I think that synth break
recalls some of the best moments of 99.9F0 - also, it'd _rock_ live. Crank
up that synth to around the 100dB mark and extend the break and you've got
a great tune. I'm thinking here of "If You Were In My Move" in particular;
the album version was solid, but the live version was _great_. (IMO, doing
"Stockings" live as an acoustic song is the wrong way to go, but what do I
know?)
> So, if
Okay guys, get Room 101 ready ...
Seriously, though, it's nice to know we're not a bunch of drones
here, as long as we all remain level-headed ...
Cheers,
Subj: I'm speechless
Part 1
{ In which the protagonist
It must be some kind of harmonic convergence: in one day, a new
Suzanne Vega album, a new R.E.M. album, a new Joan Didion novel and
a new job. In descending order of importance.
What can I say? The subject line says it all. Oh dear God, oh
whatever or whoever is in heaven, if there's a heaven, wherever that
is, if "where" means anything anymore, or Godess, or the universe, or
the four directions or the stars or fate or yin and yang and all that
stuff -- What An Album.
If 99.9F was her Sgt. Pepper, this is Abbey Road.
It may be her best. It's certainly much different from everything
that came before. Stylistically it seems to most resemble Days, or
at least Days if it had really excellent (as opposed to just good)
production (it has all those wonderfully insane Froomish moments
that Days lacked), or Days' thematic ambitions grafted onto 99.9's
daring and skating-on-the-edge whimsy. With something else added,
however.
Everyone's noted this already: she's writing from a much different
place than she's written from before. And obviously that has much --
or everything -- to do with the changes she's gone through in the
past four years, the plums she's pulled from the tree (her life's
mate, her child), the fact that she's claimed her role as not only
destination but also source in the cycle of life and death. What
she's singing about now are, I would argue, NOT secrets learned from
the edge of a knife, not just "romance and mental health," but
lessons she's learned over years, through blood, through love,
through time, through realization of how much she now has to lose.
She's passed some ways along that pilgrimage she was singing about
six years ago, with companions other than her old pal Solitude, and
she's paused to offer us her reflections on what she's experienced.
Lucky us.
Can this be the woman who's so often been regarded as cold and aloof?
Or fragile? The paragon of detatched observation? She's anything but
that here. She's wise, and sexually frank, and teasing, and whistful,
and fullblooded, and funny, and sorrowful. Wise especially. Her
songwriting has always been mature (even that song to her kid brother
she wrote when she was 12, or "The Silver Lady"), but this is a whole
new dimension. Maybe she's just more confident about what she knows,
as I imagine anyone would have to be after giving birth for the first
time, but that's just my supposition. (Let's face it -- "Birth-day"
is the one SV song that I will never be able to fully identify with,
except only weakly by analogy.)
Let's discuss "Birth-day" for a second: Has _anyone_ ever written
such an unsentimental song about childbirth? (How many childbirth
songs are there, anyway?) Calling Ruby a "hot little treasure" --
just perfect. I love the linear structure of the song, the way it
doesn't so much cycle as just plunge headlong through the experience,
with Suzanne's freakouts growing in intensity.
"Headshots" -- the most immediately haunting song to me, the one I
couldn't get out of my head when I first heard it. I can't figure out
what its literal meaning is (why the sign said "headshots," who the
boy is), and I'm not sure I want anyone to explain it to me. For some
reason the song makes me think of Anton.
"Caramel" is just wonderful, which we've all known for months. Her
voice is better than ever here.
TO BE CONTINUED
"Stockings" could raise Wendy's tomato question anew (or I guess we
could say that Suzanne is a plum), though I think speculation along
those lines is both wrongheaded and cheapening to the song. I don't
get the impression that this is intended to be a male narrator (I
agree with whoever wrote that the "I" in all these songs appears to
be Suzanne), although maybe it could be the flustered male from
"99.9." Or maybe the woman in the stockings is Suzanne. But what I
get from this song is what she's long made clear about herself, that
she appreciates and recognizes the sexuality of women as well as men
(Marlene Dietrich being the famous example), and one could well
imagine a situation in which she could begin to wonder whether
another woman was trying to turn her on. Or whatever. That she can
write a song like this says a lot, I think. (It was funny that she
said MF asked her, "Should I know something?"). She just comes off to
me as complex, very human, and comfortable with ambiguity.
And, uh, could this have a few more entendres attached to it: "When
she does not show you the way out on the way in"?
"Casual Match" has one slight flaw, in that I think it demonstrates
how modifiers (like "very") can weaken the words they modify. "Very
dry field" is just, by Vegan standards, not all that precise and
evocative. "Dry field" would have been better, though of course it
wouldn't have fit the line, but I can't think of too many SV songs
that have words tossed in just to make the meter work. (No, I can't
suggest an alternative. I certainly can't improve on Suzanne's work!)
OTOH, the term "casual match" is, well, brilliant, capturing that
double meaning of coupling and conflagration.
I think this song comes the closest to the old SV stance of detatched
scrutiny, though in this case she's inviting _us_ to coolly observe
the change in her emotions: "Observe the moment/when the heat of love
becomes the chill of doubt." In this and her other "old flame" songs, I
sense a definite stance of looking back to the pain of the past from
the present where she's found her place in life and can put it all in
perspective -- not erasing the pain, but being able to appreciate it
from the long view. In this case it's like, "I've got a grip on my
emotions and know what I'm feeling -- let's see how YOU like it.''
"Thin Man" -- I think David's hit it right on the money in id'ing
this thin man as death. (The giveaway lines are in the chorus,
especially "I don't know when it will be.") Someone in the chat
commented on how "terrible" it was for Suzanne to bring up death
while thinking of Ruby's birth, but what I find striking about the
whole album is how everything in life seems to fall into its place
in the whole cycle.
Given Suzanne's fondness for old movies, the "Thin Man" reference is
especially amusing.
The melody on this one is a little hard to get into, though. The
whole album has that sort-of-difficult-to-love-at-first quality that
Days had, at least to me (99.9F and SV were immediate grabbers), but
it grows and grows and grows with each listen. By listen #3 I was
hooked.
"No Cheap Thrill": someone here didn't like the harsh tone of the
narrator, but it reminds me of something that Suzanne might imagine
Marlene Dietrich saying. And those entendres strike again ("I've seen
what he's got and it isn't a lot"). The melody is just gorgeous,
especially in the chorus. I agree this was the obvious single, and I
find it odd I haven't heard it on the radio down here yet. (Actually,
not too odd, since I haven't spent much time listening to the radio
stations that would probably play this song. I don't want to have to
sit through 12 Alannis Morissette and Hootie songs just to hear one
by Suzanne.)
"World Before Columbus": I'm going to get pissed off if this
interpretation business gets out of hand -- not at anyone here, since
we all have the right to ask questions, but at anyone *out there* who
would try to cry racism about a song they haven't bothered listening
to. Without waxing William Bennett-ish, probably nobody would give
the song a second glance if Suzanne had chosen a Buddhist or Hindu or
Native American cosmological myth to build her song around, rather
than picking a well-known medieval European superstition. Why is one
more legitimate as song-fodder than the other?
And I was frankly baffled by the question about what Suzanne's Puerto
Rican stepfather would think. Is someone under the impression that
Hispanics were indigenous to the Americas? Who do you think was on
the boat with Columbus?
The question ought to be settled by the chorus; it refers to the
folly of everyone who chases after material riches, but I can't help
seeing it couched in terms of the conquistadors:
Those men who lust for land
And for riches strange and new
Who love those trinkets of desire
Oh they never will have you.
The chorus may be the most beautiful and heartbreaking thing she's
ever written. Let's not see it ruined by the liberal equivalent of
those Bible Belters who spend their time playing Motley Crue and
Sheryl Crow records backwards to look for satanic messages.
(Actually, I sort of see this nightmare scenario: the PC crowd takes
up the anti-WBC crusade, a la what the Cure went through with
"Killing an Arab," prompting a backlash in which Rush Limbaugh starts
playing the song on his show, proclaims his longtime admiration for
Suzanne and invites her on the air. Of course, she could turn that to
her advantage by proclaiming her support for gay marriages ... and,
well, we'd have a lot of phone lines lighting up in ditto-land. Then
Suzanne would have enough fans that she could play in Florida, except
Eric and I wouldn't be able to get tickets because Limbaugh listeners
would buy them all first. We could scalp tickets but only if we
promised to assassinate Al Franken. And so it goes.)
Anyway, it's a good thing she didn't go with her original title, "The
World Before Heinrich Himmler."
{ One thing we know: This
"Lolita" -- musically, this strikes me as somewhat off-putting.
Maybe it needs to grow on me. But thematically, it's fascinating. I
see Suzanne as a maternal figure here, trying to steer the young
Lolita from Bad Wisdom and offering her hard-won experience as a
guide. "Hey girl, I've been where you are standing/leaning in the
doorway in your mother's black dress." (Looking at the photos inside
the booklet you can tell that SV's not a child, she's no longer a
waif -- she's a grown woman, and apparently quite happy about it.
Our society scorns age and experience; if you're in your 30s you're
supposed to look 20s, etc. She seems to want no part of that. It's
also striking how Latina she looks in the outside cover art.)
"Honeymoon Suite" is definitely not what I had anticipated, certainly
the strangest honeymoon song I can think of. (It reminds me somewhat
of that "Pension Grillparzer" story in _The World According to Garp_,
though I'm sure that's just me.) This odd song suggests so much
without her having to say it: The reference to "my husband," which is
unusual in popular music (which is generally filled with juvenile
romance or just-plain-impulsive sex, with many fewer references to
husbands and wives and other committed relationships); yet, this
being the honeymoon, you can imagine how new it must be, and what it
must mean, for her to be able to say "my husband." The lines "we
sleep so close together/that our hair becomes entwined" suggests
intimacy and how long they've been together, yet the last two lines
("I must have missed that moment/in the gateway to his mind") add an
element of doubt about much she still doesn't know about her new
mate, how much distance can never be crossed between two people. And
there she ends it. Draw your own conclusions.
"Tombstone" -- I think the description of "saloon-type" music fits
this best. I had thought of it as kind of ragtimey, but that's
probably wrong. MF's production is at its best here; I love the
antiquey feel, the chatter at the beginning and the way it starts
off in mono in one channel. The words speak for themselves. Suzanne
just seems to happy (maybe content is a better word) that even death
-- at least her own _ is just another part of the natural order.
"My Favorite Plum" is, to me, the standout on the whole album, the
one that ties all this together. A lesser mind would have been
content with the birth-death cycle as a theme, maybe even presented
the songs in that order (ugh! concept album alert!), but she doesn't
do that. I see this song as the coda, after the final death song, the
reminder that life and demise continue but as long as she's here she
still has something more that she desires. (And, as she put it during
the chat, the end of all desire is death -- a phrase that strikes me
as having at least three possible meanings. Leave it to Suzanne to be
enigmatic even during an Internet chat session.)
The technique here seems to be the opposite of "Small Blue Thing" --
rather than picture herself as an object, she tells us about her own
state of the mind by investing this plum with all sorts of imagined
qualities: "See how it sleeps/ and hear how it calls to me./ See how
the flesh/ presses the skin,/ It must be bursting/ with secrets
within."
The whole album is a near-perfect marriage (in a couple senses, huh)
of lyrics, music and production, but especially in this song, which
has just plopped down into a craw of my consciousness and refuses to
leave. It also strikes me as indescribably sad, since there always
seems to be that one final plum, the one you can never have, the one
that "would make my heart complete," and sometimes after waiting a
long while beneath the tree you have to leave and go chase other
plums in other trees, leaving that one still hanging there, never
really knowing whether another shake of the bough would have done the
trick. Maybe Suzanne's really stubborn about not leaving that tree
(this woman who went to audition after audition as a teenager, always
getting turned down but never giving up, performing in malls under
dangerous electric wiring, all this until she achieved her goal), but
even she's had to leave her share, I know. We all do, on certain
days. And one such day is the day I finally bought this album and
heard this song, which is what I will always think about when I
listen to this album. And if there's one thing I think I know about
the future it's that when it finally, whenever that is, comes my
time to die (more time being the final, unreachable plum), this is
the song I'll hear cycling around and around in my head until the
end. Thanks, I guess.
For the whole album: Thank you, Suzanne. I'd say more, but as you can
see you've struck me speechless.
-- Bob
"one thing I know
"Now I don't need a heaven,
"History's rough draft.
"Then she laid his head on her shoulder with her eyes fixed on the
rose. The senator held her about the waist, sank his face into
woods-animal armpit, and gave in to terror. Six months and eleven
days later he would die in that same position, debased and
repudiated because of the public scandal with Laura Farina and
weeping with rage at dying without her."
Subj: Re: I'm speechless (Part 3)
Hello everyone,
The inimitable Bob King wrote (on Fri.):
"Lolita" -- musically, this strikes me as somewhat off-putting.
Maybe it needs to grow on me. But thematically, it's fascinating.
(snip)
I agree with you that musically, this song is hard to embrace. The
one-note organ repeat is too reminiscent of Santana for me to block it
out. But, don't you think that a song like "Neighborhood Girls" paints
a picture that has much more impact? Instead of the direct "don't be
like that" approach, it concludes with the lines "'I just wonder where
she's gone?' Oh, she's gone? 'Yes, she's gone...'" This could have a
more casually sinister interpretation - i.e. "what happened to her?"
It's left for us to wonder. Or, "I didn't even notice she wasn't around
anymore - oh well...." I didn't get that much out of "Lolita."
Re: "My Favorite Plum":
The narrator in "Small Blue Thing" also reveals much about her/his
state of mind, but in different ways, i.e. "I am lost (against your
pocket, against your fingers...)," "thrown against the sky," "in
pieces," "falling," "scattering." These all suggest displacement of one
kind or another, perhaps in both the physical and mental states. I'm
not saying that MFP or SBT is 'better,' I'm just trying to point out
the fact that although the narrator in SBT is comparing herself to an
object, the object is still invested with qualities that relate back
to her state of mind.
>The whole album is a near-perfect marriage (in a couple senses, huh)
I don't share your assessment completely, but thanks for a great review
that made me think about some of 9OD in a different light.
Subj: My opinions
Well, I have been listening to Nine non stop since I got a CD that would
open ;) As I listen to some of the songs I keep thinking of the musical
similarities I hear. Please understand that these opinions are entirely my
own. This is how I listen to music, you see.
"Casual Match" sounds dead on like a Talking Heads song to me. I can just
hear David Byrne singing this one.
"Lolita" has a sound reminiscent of the Police (in my opinion) The
percussion in the beginning sounds VERY similar to "Walking in your
Footsteps" from Syncronicity
"My Favorite Plum" has a sound and feel that reminds me alot of Portishead.
Not quite as depressing though... :)
And for those who are still reading, my favorite songs on the CD are
Birth-day, WBC, and Stockings, but these are bound to change as I listen.
My least favorites are the ones with music by Mitchell (Hmmm, sorry
Mitchell, they are starting to grow on me.), but I really like the whole
album. The concert this month will probably affect these picks. My
favorite CD is still Days of Open Hand...for now.
John
Subj: Nine Objects of Desire
Hello Everyone....
Please send your comments, suggestions, submissions to:
VegaNet
VegaNet@aol.com
>but Columbus never proved the world was round.
>wrong, that I really love everything she does.
A few tracks did nothing for me ('Lolita,' 'Thin Man'), but it's still a
great album! The songs have such solid grooves and rhythms that match the
lyrics and atmosphere so well that it *feels* spontaneous. No one can accuse
her of being over-studied and too careful on this one. Brava, Suzanne!
Date: 96-09-11 14:13:56 EDT
From: EBannan@mail.dot.state.nc.us (Eric Bannan)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-12 08:53:40 EDT
From: juspuk@propus.tkk.utu.fi (Pukkila Jussi)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
jussi p
(that is my name :)
Date: 96-09-13 02:02:45 EDT
From: djhamma@aloha.net (David J. Hammar)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
-- Dave H.
http://www.aloha.net/~djhamma
Date: 96-09-13 04:03:28 EDT
From: algranti@club-internet.fr (David Algranti)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-13 10:21:43 EDT
From: Jeremy513@aol.com
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-13 13:02:30 EDT
From: kubon@cs.sfu.ca (Petr Kubon)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-13 14:33:42 EDT
From: Keith.Sawyer@FMR.Com (Sawyer, Keith)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
CC: kubon@cs.sfu.ca (Petr Kubon)
>the album that much?! Just curious, I still haven't got my
>copy yet - but from past experience I know that my all-time favourite
>CDs grew on me over time, some of them I didn't even like the
>first time at all!
I can completely sympathize - most of my all-time favorites took a
three-month incubation period before revealing their brilliance.
Date: 96-09-13 18:50:31 EDT
From: BobandSooz@aol.com
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: algranti@club-internet.fr, undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
In a message dated 96-09-13 04:03:28 EDT, algranti@club-internet.fr (David
Algranti) writes:
Date: 96-09-14 14:44:12 EDT
From: FroggyJen@aol.com
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Goodbye friends.
Jen.
who is disappointed that (a) she missed Shawn Colvin when she was here, and
(b) Suzanne won't be gracing Texas with her wondrous presence. Hello
DFW folks! I'm one too!
Date: 96-09-19 00:47:47 EDT
From: janvier@odyssee.net (Guillaume Lesage)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-21 11:55:50 EDT
From: guida@mail.telepac.pt (Guida Fonseca)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu (Got caught by the Undertow)
Guida.
Date: 96-09-22 02:27:48 EDT
From: arel@pc.jaring.my (Khairyl Yassin)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-09-23 17:54:53 EDT
From: rwalters@lafayette.unocal.com (Rob Walters)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
>I think it's very good, although I wouldn't know at what rank as
>compared to her previous albums.
>cerebral, and more emotional. I like the change, as I feel that it's
>important for artists to change, but I miss the complex, multi-layered
>approach of her previous works.
>that Vega has ever written. Absolutely gorgeous melody.
>there was one. Cool, jazzy track recalls early Santana.
>comparing the lost boy with a doomed relationship.
>save the pretty baby.
synth break is probably the cheesiest thing Suzanne has ever done.
Date: 96-09-23 20:17:17 EDT
From: s3033469@student.anu.edu.au (Robin Shortt)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
>>save the pretty baby.
>
>Agreed. The weakest track by far, and no melody to speak of.
>synth break is probably the cheesiest thing Suzanne has ever done.
>
>Good lyrics, and yes, again, I think the production detracts.
>anyone's still reading, I'll give (like the movie critics Siskel and
>Ebert) two thumbs up - way, way up - for WBC and Headshots, and a
>mixed review for the remainder of the album. Your mileage may vary,
>and like Khairyl, I hope no one is offended. I did try to preface my
>criticisms by saying "I prefer..." Who knows, maybe with time, more of
>9OD will grow on me.
>
>-Rob
Robin
Date: 96-09-27 02:26:40 EDT
From: bobking@gate.net (If you don't leave, I can't start)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
acquires three objects of artistic
merit, and discussion concerning
one of these ensues. }
is raised anew, modifiers
become an issue, and we are forced
to confront naked imperialism.
Also, Rush Limbaugh makes
a rare cameo appearance. }
album must go. Final
thoughts on Lolita, ghosts,
death and that
unattainable Plum. }
this day will go."
-- Suzanne
I don't need religion,
I am in the place where I should be.
I am breathing water.
I am breathing water.
You know everybody's got to breathe."
-- R.E.M., "Undertow"
We used to say.
When we still believed that history merited a second look."
-- Joan Didion, _The Last Thing He Wanted_
-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Date: 96-10-02 10:55:11 EDT
From: rwalters@lafayette.unocal.com (Rob Walters)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu, bobking@gate.net
>"Hey girl, I've been where you are standing/leaning in the
>doorway in your mother's black dress."
>The technique here seems to be the opposite of "Small Blue Thing" --
>rather than picture herself as an object, she tells us about her own
>state of the mind by investing this plum with all sorts of imagined
>qualities: (snip)
>of lyrics, music and production,
-Rob
Date: 96-10-02 18:20:53 EDT
From: coop@ctol.net (John Cooperider)
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To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Date: 96-10-10 20:15:51 EDT
From: bll22536@infolink.net.il (Yehu Moran)
Sender: owner-undertow@law.emory.edu
To: undertow@serv4.law.emory.edu
Well i got the Disc 2 weeks ago and i must say I LOVE IT!!!!!!!
well when september arrived i was sure that the disc won't be released
here (israel) at the 10th so i asked my from my Grandpa (he's a pilot)
to buy it for me when He will be in New York....well i asked for 9OOD of
Suzanne VEGA and my grandpa mistakenly bought me a CD game of
SEGA....well it didn't made me too happy you know, but then i discovered
the fact that the 9OOD was released here on the 10th....yes i know i am
an idiot......
So i bought it two weeks ago and i listend to it again and again and i
really love it.it's a very differnet Album.. almost no regular folk in
it.But as usuall Suzanne experiments many different styles of music (I
recognize some Blues and Jazz in some of the tracks) and the final
result is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!
I especially like Headshots and World Before Columbus.
Headshots is a great song a very sad and very beutiful song.The Historic
errors (that David A. mentioned) in WBC are completely unimportant.WBC
is a very beutiful song and besides "World before Magellan" sounds
pretty bad in Compare to "World Before Columbus" ;).yesterday i listebed
to it 4 times in a row.yep i just love this song.
Birth-day reminds me Blood makes noise....it's a very powerful song.....
It describes a powerful action in a very powerful way.the line "i wait
to meet my love made real" in this context is really great!!!
Caramel is a great. when it was released in the "the truth about cats
and dogs" soundtrack i went to the local CD store and listened to it
about 7 or 8 time in a row untill the owner gently asked me to buy it to
go away.
Tombstone is a strange song.It's talking about Death in a very calm and
cheerful way.Although i am not comfortable with this description i love
the song.Yuval Gabay (an Israeli Drummer!) makes some really good job in
this track for my opinion.
I must admit that No Cheap Trill is my least favorite song in the new
album....but when i say about one of Suzanne's songs that's it's my
least favorite i mean it's good but no great!
Nine Objects Of Desire is a great disc and it is good as Suzanne's
previous albums.
I hope you enjoy it as much as i do and i envy all those of you in the
U.S and Europe (i think that selection of songs in the Hamburg concert
was great!!!) that will be able to see her soon in live concerts.....
Yehu :)
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