the vin scelsa show
WNEW, New York, September 15, 1996
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[continued from part 1] Vin: Yeah, it's a real beautiful song. "World Before Columbus." It is one of the new songs on "Nine Objects of Desire," one of those objects being Ruby, [SV laughs] Suzanne's daughter. I'm so glad I got an explanation, too, for "Nine Objects of Desire." That's nice. Well, let's-- can we talk about the figure of Death? Suzanne: Yes, please. Vin: In just a minute. Suzanne: Mind? I insist. [laughs] Vin: We will talk about Death right after we pause for some commercial messages. You know, John Hall was here last week with Jenelle Mosser, and some announcement for some web site came on, and I didn't even want to touch it. It was off the air. He was just, like, right over there where you are, and he just started going, "Dot com! Dot com! Dot com! Dot com! Dot dot dot dot dot com! Dot com!" [SV laughs] Clearly this is a man experiencing some sort of information overload, you know, and I didn't even want to talk to him about it. It was, you know, have you had, like, a bad experience on the net, or something? It was like, "Dot com! Dot com! Dot com!" Very strange. But you're okay with it. You don't-- Suzanne: No, I'm all right with it. Vin: Yeah, 'cause-- Suzanne: At this point, it's a nice sort of steady flow. Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: And if I get backed up, I just sort of do a flash, a flash whatever they call it, a flash...session. Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: And that way I can just download everything and read it at my own leisure, and-- Vin: Right. Suzanne: Get around to it. Vin: I don't know. I go in and out of being enamored of the whole technology and what's out there-- Suzanne: Yeah, yeah. Vin: And what's on the web-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: And being very, what's the word, Luddite-like about it. Suzanne: [laughs] Right. Vin: Where it's just like, "Oh, stop, for heaven's sake, just leave us alone, go away, rarararah." Suzanne: Right. Vin: You know, and I have these very mixed emotions about it. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Interesting stuff-- Suzanne: The funny thing, you know, it's probably because it's new, that it's such a novelty. I mean, I will respond to an email, whereas if someone got...if someone called me up and left a message on my answering machine, it's less likely that I would call them back and leave a message on their answering machine. Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: I'd be just likely to say, "It's a wrong number," and not even think about it. Or, "I don't want to deal with this." But for some reason, having it written down in such an easy format that you can just pop "Reply" and then I just would answer-- Vin: Right. Suzanne: For some reason that makes a difference. Vin: And are you more apt to answer email than what they now call "snail mail", than the handwritten letter? Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Typed letter? Suzanne: Yeah, because I find that it's easier. You don't have to address it, you don't have to stamp it. Vin: Right, right. Suzanne: You don't have to do all of that stuff. You can just, it's just kind of done for you. Vin: Much more-- Suzanne: You can do it in 30 seconds, and it's done. Vin: Sure, sure. Much more convenient. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Don't have to go to the Post Office. Suzanne: Having said that, you know, I don't [laughs] as a rule lately... usually what I try and do is post it in a place where the most people can read it. Vin: Mm. Suzanne: 'Cause I don't really always have the time to answer every single one. Vin: All right, now one of the objects of desire of the nine is the figure of Death-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Listed on the first page of the booklet that accompanies the CD. So how is the figure of Death an object of desire? Suzanne: Well, actually that's a little bit misleading, 'cause if you think of the song "Thin Man," for example-- Vin: That's what I have cued up. Suzanne: That's...actually I'm the object of desire in "Thin Man." [laughs] Vin: Ahh, yeah. Suzanne: He's desiring me, and I'm resisting him, saying, "Sorry, pal." [laughs] "Not ready." So...but every so often you can feel the presence somewhere, you know, and that's something I feel in my life, as occasionally I'll feel the presence of death, so what I do is I'll...I made a man out of this feeling, you know, made him into a figure that I can negotiate with and sort of talk to, in a sense. And that's my way of dealing with that particular subject. Vin: So he's-- Suzanne: He's trying to be...he's seducing me-- Vin: Mm. Suzanne: He's trying to seduce me into giving in, and my role is to say, "No, no," even though what he promises is seductive, which is sort of this endless peace and-- Vin: Ahh. Suzanne: This sort of tranquility. That's what the song is about, is how the possible...how tempting it could be, but then on the other hand, you know, you have to resist it til the very end. Vin: Have you had near brushes with death? I mean, or is it just a more ambiguous kind of... Suzanne: It's a bit more ambiguous than that. I mean, it's just... it's probably more the way I grew up, really. I mean, my father was someone who had had brushes with death, and so he was aware of the fact that everyone was going to die at some point, and so he would take time out to remind of this from time to time. [laughs] Vin: Oh, really? [laughs] Suzanne: Yes. [laughs] You know, just by-- it was his way of making sure that we didn't take life for granted. Vin: Mmm. Suzanne: So there have been different times where I've felt it. I felt it when I....I mean, this is really personal, but when I was giving birth to Ruby, there was a moment where things sort of started to go wrong. And I could feel the presence of it, and I...and, you know, there was a point where her heart rate dropped down to 40 beats per minute. Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: And so there was this struggle, and that was happening. And other times, too, when I met my biological father for the first time, which was about ten years ago. I took a plane to L.A. to meet him by myself and had this recurring thought that the plane would crash before I could get there, and there was just this feeling. It's a feeling I have often, of time about to run out, and so therefore that I feel like...I always feel a sense of urgency, that there's something that I have to get done, I have to get it done before I go-- Vin: Mmm. Mmm. Suzanne: And so it's just kind of a...thing. Vin: Now..the figure of the thin man, then. Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Why did you portray him that way? Suzanne: Why is he thin? [laughs] Vin: Yeah. You know, for instance-- Suzanne: This is...when I was in Germany, I was doing an interview and this German guy was going, "Well, why is he thin? You know, why is he not normal size or even fat?" [Vin laughs] And I said, "Well, because he's skeletal"-- Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: "And, you know, he's like a skeleton. That's the way I thought of him." So then he said, "Oh, so--" I said, "And also it's 'cause he's not interested in eating, I mean he's a man-- Death is not someone who's gonna sit down and have a hearty meal, you know?" Vin: Right, right. Suzanne: If-- When I think of Death, I think of someone who's skeletal, who has, you know, is wearing sort of an old suit that was once really fine. This is the way I see him in my mind's eye, and, you know, you don't-- I don't imagine Death, because you don't imagine him sitting down to eat. You know, he's busy. Vin: Mm. Suzanne: He's busy doing all...he's busy going on his rounds, you know. He's not the kind who's kind who's gonna sit down and enjoy himself. [laughs] Vin: There's a famous novel that was made into a movie and then a series of movies, called "The Thin Man." Suzanne: Yeah. I'm familiar with them, but I'm not...I didn't actually... I don't think...I think I've seen one or two of them. Vin: William Powell, Myrna Loy. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Were the couple. Now...and everybody thinks that-- Suzanne: A sort of comedy, right? Vin: Yeah, well, it was like a...they were comic detectives, they were husband and wife-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Nick and Nora Charles, right? Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Wonderful repartee between them. Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: They were real partners, and they drank a lot. I mean, they would definitely be politically incorrect now [SV laughs] because of the fact that they abused martinis incredibly. [SV laughs] And the original novel was perhaps a bit darker than the eventual film series. Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: What I'm getting around to is that on some of the tracks, some of the arrangements on this new album have a kind of a film noir-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Sort of quality to them. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: And while "The Thin Man," those movies were not film noir movies, they were black and white, you know-- Suzanne: Right, right. Vin: And it was a...that...you're shaking your head when I say "film noir," so I'm not off base again. Suzanne: No. Vin: There's something...I'm on to something. Suzanne: Well, I love film noir. It's one of my favorite kinds of movies. I mean, that and the New Wave from the 60s, the French films-- Vin: Uh-huh Suzanne: The French films from the 60s, those are my favorite kinds of movies. And lately I've gotten into MGM musicals from the 50s. [laughs] The Technicolor things...but film noir is something I really, really like. Although it's not something that Mitchell and I discussed consciously-- Vin: Mmm. Suzanne: But we have watched a lot of those films, and...probably what you're responding to is the muted trumpet, the horn section there, and... Vin: Yeah. Yeah. Suzanne: To me, that arrangement reminded me of something else I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I couldn't figure out whether it was a theme song from the sixties or something like that, but it was kind of a...it reminded me of something and it really made me laugh, and I couldn't tell whether it was really sort of a... like a diseased way [laughs]-- Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: Of treating the song, or whether it was really witty and funny. In the end, I think we did a good job, but if-- there was a moment there where I was howling with laughter, but I wasn't sure if it was really gonna go over well. So I'm glad it did. ["Thin Man"] Vin: Now, I was going to say, but I didn't, 'cause I got sidetracked, that the Thin Man in the movie series was not William Powell. Suzanne: Uh-huh. Vin: It wasn't Nick Charles. Suzanne: Right. Vin: The original Thin Man was actually the original victim in the very first "Thin Man," in the Dashiell Hammett novel. Suzanne: Right. Vin: But then, for some reason-- Suzanne: Which I have, but I haven't read yet. Vin: It's good. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: It's good, the original novel. But for some reason, everybody sort of began to assume that-- Suzanne: He was-- Vin: Nick was the Thin Man-- Suzanne: Right. Vin: And the series became "The Return of the Thin Man," and "Son of the Thin Man," and all of that. [SV laughs] Suzanne: Right. Vin: But none of that has anything to do with your song-- Suzanne: Not really, no. Vin: Called "Thin Man." Suzanne: Mm-mm. Vin: Which is again, another neat arrangement. I like the horns. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: You know? And it's real trumpets in there. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Okay. Now, as long as we're talking about films and books-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: There is a song that shares a title and presumably a character with a very famous novel-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: That became sort of a controversial film. "Lolita"-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Is what I'm talking about. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Tell about this song. Suzanne: Well, there's not really much to say. I think it's probably one of the most straightforward songs on the whole album, really. It's like, taking the character of Lolita, which is a certain...it's certainly a common enough character that you see in America today. You see those girls, those kinds of girls, every place. Vin: The young, sexy, teenage objects of desire. Suzanne: The young, sexy teenage girls. Yeah. The girls that use sex to get attention, and to have, you know...to make their way in the world. So in a sense it's just a word of warning to those girls, and in a sense it was a...it's like kind of a song to myself when I was that age, and it's a song to my daughter, who's only two-- Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: But in ten years will be twelve, and also it's in a way a song to my mother, in a sense, 'cause I was born when she was 18. She was a very sexy young girl, and in a sense, she, I think, kind of taught me not to use sex. You know, she always wanted me to be...not to be ashamed of being brainy, of being smart, and to treat myself with respect and...so that's basically the message of this song-- Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: If you want to call it that. It's not really literal. Again, it's not literally based on a character in the novel, but the kinds of girls that are...that you know and see every day. Vin: Right. Well, the name has become-- Suzanne: Synonamous, yeah. Vin: Sort of a, yeah. Suzanne: With the character. Vin: It's, like, become a generic name now. Suzanne: Yeah. It's amazing to me that he wrote such an American...that whole book to me is so American. It's like a...and that he was Russian, and he was writing in a second language, and-- Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: The character of Lolita is just so familiar to me. You just see her every place, and you...when you say "Lolita," you know exactly-- Vin: Exactly. Suzanne: What you're talking about. Vin: Sure. I have a cool segue. Suzanne: Okay. [laughs] Vin: From "Lolita." Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Okay? So...and I hope-- I know you've been doing some radio over the last week or so-- Suzanne: Uh-huh. Vin: As you've also been doing some in-store things-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: In a number of different cities. So I'm hoping that I'm the first to do this segue. I hope nobody has jumped the gun and done this already. But listen, you'll see what I'm talking about. Suzanne: Okay. Vin: This is from Suzanne Vega's new album, the album called "Nine Objects of Desire," here on Sunday night, on WNEW. ["Lolita"] [Santana's "Oye Come Va" begins, and continues in the background while they speak] Vin: See, actually it's a tough choice [SV laughs] between "Oye Como Va" and "Spill the Wine." Suzanne: Right. Vin: They would both work, wouldn't they? Suzanne: Yeah, they would. Vin: All right. Well, I opted for Santana's version [SV laughs] of "Oye Como Va." I thought you guys were actually sampling it, that one note, you know? [SV laughs] ["Oye Como Va" continues] [After about 30 seconds, Vin mixes "Lolita" in with it, then goes back and forth between the two] Vin: I think we better stop now. [SV laughs] I just think-- Suzanne: Having a really good time here. [Vin laughs] Vin: Well, it's sort of like, you know, it's like painting or something. ["Oye Como Va" continues in the background; Vin laughs] That's funny. Now I've lost track of where yours is. I think you're over here. [part of "Lolita"] There you are. That, that, that, that note, that's the Santana note. [both songs continue in the background] Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: That's the other stuff... ["Oye Como Va" continues, then more "Lolita"] Vin: See, if I really wanted to get demented about it, I would kind of slow the speeds down to get the rhythms exact, you know, and actually do a whole-- Suzanne: Segue. Vin: It's not so absurd, though. I mean, that's what happened to "Tom's Diner," right? Suzanne: No, no, it's true. Vin: Those guys in England. Suzanne: Well, they didn't even slow it down, I guess they just cut it. They cut it up, that's what they did. They cut up "Tom's Diner." Vin: They turned it into like, a hip-hop thing or something, yeah? Suzanne: Yeah. Yeah, I asked them actually what gave them that idea, and they said that it was completely obvious, and that if they hadn't done it, somebody else would have done it. [Vin laughs] They said the rhythm was already there. I said okay. Vin: Which one of the many versions of it-- it's the first one. Ahh...with DNA, right? Suzanne: That's the one that became a big hit, yeah. Vin: Yeah...why is it called "Rusted Pipe"? Suzanne: [laughs] Well, that's because they did a bonus track, which was a remix of a song I had called "Rusted Pipe." Vin: Oh that was, that's your song, "Rusted Pipe." Suzanne: So that's not-- Yeah, that's my song, "Rusted Pipe." Vin: I want..track 7. Suzanne: Track 7 is...I don't remember. Vin: It says, "Tom's Diner"...no, no, that's not it, it's not DNA. Suzanne: It's probably the second one. Vin: Yeah? Suzanne: Doesn't it say, "Tom's Diner featuring DNA"? "DNA featuring Suzanne Vega"? Vin: It just says "Suzanne Vega" on it. Let's see. Suzanne: That might be the one from the album. You might not want that one. [a cappella "Tom's Diner" begins] That's the one from the album. [laughs] Vin: That's the original one. Suzanne: That's the one from "Solitude Standing." Vin: All right...umm... Suzanne: I wish I could help you out. Vin: Oh, here it's the last track! Suzanne: The last track. Vin: Yeah. Featuring DNA. Suzanne: Right. Vin: Okay. This is what we're talking about, for people who have forgotten this. ["Tom's Diner," DNA version begins] It's such a cool sound. [SV laughs] Were you pleased with this when you first heard it? Suzanne: Yeah, I was. Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: I thought it was very funny. Vin: Okay if I play it? Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: And I won't mix any Santana or War, [SV laughs] or anything else. Suzanne: Right. ["Tom's Diner," DNA version] ["Caramel"] ["Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)" by Astrud Gilberto] Vin: Yeah, that sound is certainly present on "Caramel," on that new song of yours, which actually was released prior to the release of the album, because there was a soundtrack album to the film "The Truth About Cats and Dogs." Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: And that was-- was that actually featured? I didn't see the movie. Suzanne: Yeah, it was. Vin: Was it actually in the movie? Suzanne: Yeah, it was featured in one scene where there's a...I think it's Uma Thurman, and the male lead is a fashion photographer, and so.. [laughs] Uma Thurman come to the guy's house to tell him that he's in love with the wrong person. It's kind of like a female Cyrano de Bergerac-- Vin: Right, right. Suzanne: Sort of thing, so Uma's the front. So Uma gets to the house, and this guy decides to feed her some cake that's been left over from a fashion shoot, and normally she doesn't eat much of anything at all, you get that impression from the movie, and he spends the whole scene just feeding her cake, and this song is playing in the background. Vin: And "Caramel"'s playing-- Suzanne: And-- yeah, and she's falling in love with him, but doesn't want to acknowledge it-- Vin: Right, so. Suzanne: And he's, like, feeding her, shoveling cake into her mouth, and they have all these close-ups of Uma's face, and...cake and stuff. Vin: Did you write this song specifically for the movie? Suzanne: I didn't, actually. I wrote it because I just...wrote it, and I wrote it for this album-- Vin: Right. Suzanne: For my own album, and then when they sent me the film, I realized that that was a scene that that song would work really well in. Vin: Mm. And the comparison to Astrud Gilberto is an apt one? Suzanne: I would listen to her music all the time-- Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: When I was a child. My parents listened to bossa nova constantly. Vin: Yeah. Stan Getz, and-- Suzanne: I was just crazy about her voice. Vin: Right. Yeah. Suzanne: I mean, that was the way you were supposed to sing. [Both laugh] I just loved it, 'cause it was clear and pure, and there was no vibrato-- Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: And to me that was just the best way. I mean, I felt like if I were ever gonna sing anything, that's the way I would do it. Vin: Interesting. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: That that was an early influence for you. Suzanne: Yeah, definitely. Vin: Hmm. Suzanne Vega is my guest tonight, here on WNEW. We have to pause for some commercial words. And Vin Scelsa's Sunday night. Here's an exclusive sneak preview of an upcoming series of events at the Bottom Line. It's a series of evenings -- Suzanne Vega, you may be interested in this -- evenings with Jane Siberry. Suzanne: Hmm. Vin: Are you a Jane Siberry fan? Suzanne: I've listened to her albums on occasion. Vin: Okay. Suzanne: Sometimes...I got into one of her albums. Vin: Okay. She's doing a thing this fall at the Bottom Line, entitled "Three Showrooms in the House of Siberry." Now these performances are being recorded for possible future release on her own label. She's got a new label now, of her own, called Sheba Records. Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Okay, so October 23rd and 24th, the shows are called "Music for Films and Forests." "Music for Films and Forests." The November 20th and 21st shows are entitled "Music for Saying What You Thought of Too Late." And the December 17th and 18th shows are called "Music for the Christmas Season," 'cause it's the 17th and 18th of December. Alan Pepper of the Bottom Line says, "Collect the whole set." Tickets are on sale now for all of the above shows. Jane Siberry's "Three Showrooms in the House of Siberry" in October, November and December at the Bottom Line, 15 West 4th Street, in the heart of the Village. "Tom's Diner," which we heard in...at the beginning of that set, the DNA version-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: The sort of hip-hop version, was the first song that you ever performed on one of my radio shows. Suzanne: Really. Vin: Back in, I guess it was 1986. Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: It was one of those big acoustic Easter gatherings of lots of musicians. It was on K-Rock. Suzanne: Right. Vin: We prerecorded it in the studios...Christine Lavin was there, Shawn Colvin-- Suzanne: Oh yeah, I remember that, yeah. Vin: Tom Paxton, it was a whole bunch of people. And that night you sang two songs. You did "Tom's Diner." Suzanne: Uh-huh. Vin: A cappella. And you did a song that was being featured in a movie, another movie song, that was in "Pretty in Pink." Suzanne: I did? [laughs] Vin: Yeah. The title of the song-- Suzanne: How could I have done that acoustically? Normally it's hard for me to do that one acoustically. Vin: Yeah, you did that song. What was the name of the song though? I can't-- "Left of Center." Suzanne: "Left of Center." Vin: You did that song that night. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Yeah. You don't remember. Suzanne: I don't remember doing that one just 'cause usually I had...since I didn't write it myself on the guitar I needed Steve Addabbo to play the guitar for me-- Vin: I don't-- I'm pretty sure you-- Suzanne: So... [laughs] Vin: I'm pretty sure you did it at-- maybe-- Suzanne: Well, maybe he was with me, maybe he did it. Vin: Maybe, yeah. Okay. But that was the first time we ever did radio together. I'm having fun tonight. I'm enjoying this; are you? Suzanne: That's-- yeah. Yeah. Vin: You okay? All right. We're not keeping you up or anything, or keeping you out all night? Suzanne: No, no, no. [laughs] Vin: Because I know, you know, being a mom and stuff now, you know, the bedtime may have changed, depending upon when-- Suzanne: Oh, it has changed. Well, now it's midnight instead of four o'clock. [Both laugh] Vin: All right. We're sort of observing the release of this new Suzanne Vega album, the first one in a couple of years, since 99.9 Fahrenheit degrees. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Degrees Fahrenheit or Fahrenheit degrees? Suzanne: I think it's Fahrehnheit degrees. Vin: Yeah. Fahrenheit degrees. Suzanne: Yeah. And poetic license. Vin: You're getting out, and you're starting to perform a bit, doing some in-store things-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Which has become something that a lot of musicians and writers are doing these days. Is this something that's exciting for you? Is it challenging for you? Having been off the road for a couple of years now, are you intimidated by it at all? Are you hot to get back to it? Suzanne: No, no, I really like it. Yeah, I like-- I especially, I like doing in-stores, because then you really get to see people up close, and-- Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: Over the summer I did a couple of festivals, and I found that a little bit daunting, 'cause I was playing in front of ten thousand people at Newport, and I really couldn't tell how it was going, or how the new songs were going over, or if they were gonna like "Blood Makes Noise" at Newport Folk Festival-- Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: You know, that sort of thing, and I found that a bit scary, but I find these in-stores to be really interesting, 'cause then people get to ask me questions, or talk to me about this and that, and I get to see what they're thinking about. Vin: Mm-hmm. Were you playing solo-- Suzanne: Yeah, solo. Vin: At the festivals? Suzanne: No, no, at the festivals I was playing with Mitchell on keyboards and Mike Visceglia on bass. Vin: Okay. Suzanne: So. Vin: I'll play another track from the album, and then maybe will you sing something else for us? Suzanne: Yeah, sure. Vin: Maybe like an older song or something? Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: That's be cool. Tell about this song, "Honeymoon Suite." [SV laughs] This is kind of a funny, interesting song about a couple who are obviously on their honeymoon in France-- Suzanne: In Paris, in Paris, yeah. Vin: In Paris, and the husband has a strange dream. Suzanne: Right. Vin: And he dreams that there's all kinds of people in the room. I'm telling about it. [SV laughs] I asked you to tell about it, and I'm telling about it! Suzanne: Ahhh... Vin: You tell about it. Suzanne: Well, it actually is based on a true incident. Actually I married my husband last year in April, and we went to Paris for our honeymoon, and we had had this deal that since he was having sort of a string of nightmares every night, I had sort of jokingly said that I would stand at the gateway of his mind and make sure that he wasn't disturbed again. And so we went to sleep, and he woke up the next morning, and he gives me this look. [laughs] And I said, "What's the matter?" and he said, "Where were you?" [laughs] Vin: Really. [Both laugh] Suzanne: And I said, "What are you talking about? I was right here." And he said, "Oh, you wouldn't believe this dream I had. It was unbelievable." So that's how it began. Vin: Yeah, see that, [SV laughs] that was-- it was a nice sentiment on your part, you know, I'll stand at the gateway of your mind-- Suzanne: I know. Vin: And protect you, but-- Suzanne: I wonder if I would have had that... [laughs] Vin: Yeah. [laughs] Suzanne: And then I said, "Well, listen, you know, they could have come round the other side of the bed to see me, you know. I was here. It's just that they-- Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: Obviously weren't interested in coming over to this side. Vin: They decided to visit him instead. Suzanne: They visited him instead. But the whole idea of it was that there was someone...that he thought that they had come to the wrong man, basically. Vin: Yeah. Right. So the song is called "Honeymoon Suite." It starts off rather atmospherically. ["Honeymoon Suite"] Vin: So when I first heard that song, it put me in mind of another relatively new song by Marshall Crenshaw that I thought I'd play for you, 'cause I think it fits, it's appropriate. It's called "What Do You Dream Of." ["What Do You Dream Of" by Marshall Crenshaw] Vin: Well, we're searching for syncrhonicity, you know, so there's a new song from Marshall Crenshaw that sort of echoes in a certain way that new song from Suzanne Vega called "Honeymoon Suite." Trying to get inside somebody's mind and into their dreams, [SV laughs] it's not an easy thing to do. Although it's a lovely romantic notion [both laugh] that we can do it. Suzanne Vega is my guest tonight here on WNEW. Can we get you to do an old song or two, maybe, for us? Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Are there any of your older songs that you just don't like any more? Or are they basically all sort of still like children of yours, and, like children, you always like them. I mean, I know we've talked about "Luka" from time to time. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: And you've said that "Luka" has not become an albatross for you, that you're-- Suzanne: No. It still isn't, no. Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: There are songs that I don't like any more. I don't sing them any more. In fact, I don't really think about them much any more. Vin: Yeah. Suzanne: Some of the songs on the second album, I'd say. Like a song like "Language" I very rarely do, or "In the Eye," or something like that. So there's always some songs that really stick with you for life, and then there's others that fall by the wayside. Vin: Mm. And they fall by the wayside just because you're removed from that place where you were when you wrote them? Suzanne: Yeah, they're just not as interesting to me any more. Whereas there's other ones that really stick with me. Vin: Well, we have a couple of requests here in the studio. Suzanne: Okay. [laughs] Vin: So which one are you gonna do first? Suzanne: Uhh... Vin: I said "Marlene," and Carrie said "Gypsy." Suzanne: I'll do "Marlene." Vin: Okay. ["Marlene on the Wall," acoustic version, first verse] Suzanne: Mmmpf. Boy, that's never happened before. [laughs] Vin: What happened? Suzanne: All of a sudden I just hit a snowbank. Vin: What, did you forget the words? Suzanne: Yeah. I was thinking of the cirumstances that led me to write this song. I was also thinking that, when I had first written this song, this was a song I had always figured that I would never sing in public. So I had kind of thrown it in the closet, and, you know, with a bunch of other things, and then I made it an up-tempo song for a gig, and I played it for my guitar player at that point, and he said he really liked it. And so it's become like a song that I would have... that I sing all the time, although I...if it was up to me, I would never have sung it now. [laughs] Vin: In the first place. Really? Suzanne: For me it was a song that never quite made the grade. But let me try it again. Vin: Wow. Well, no-- that's interesting. And the reason why is 'cause it never made the grade...it just...creatively. Suzanne: For me it was a song that I could always see the patch marks in. It's like, there's some songs that sort of arrive whole, and then there's other songs that you cut and paste. Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: And for this one I can always see the cracks where I cut and paste this line, and had that idea and that thought and kind of stuck them together, and...to me it was a bit...it was more forced than I like a song to be. Vin: And for some reason you flashed on all of that just now? Suzanne: Yeah, because we were talking about songs that fell by the wayside. So I was singing a song and I was remembering back to 1983-- Vin: Ohhh. Suzanne: When I was doing these gigs around the city. So, sorry. Sorry about that. [laughs] Vin: But...this is a song that you do continue to sing, though. Suzanne: I sing it all the time, yeah, all the time. Vin: You probably sang it a day or two ago at one of those in-stores. Suzanne: Yeah, I do. I mean, the embarrassing thing is as I do get older, I do forget more of the lyrics, becuase there's more lyrics in my brain these days, and sometimes they just fly out of there. Vin: One of the greatest compliments that I get from listeners is that they feel like when I'm with a guest like this, things become so sort of intimate [SV laughs] that all the guards are let down. Suzanne: That's true. Vin: And that we tend to forget that we're even on the radio, you know-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: And that there's lots of people listening and everything. Suzanne: Right. Vin: I think that's what just happened just now, like-- Suzanne: Yeah, I was just suddenly carried away. Vin: Wow, cool! Suzanne: So-- Vin: You don't have to-- Suzanne: No, but I mean-- Vin: If you don't want to do it-- Suzanne: The thing is, you know, you know, it's okay to do it once, but it's like, you know, [laughs] if I were to continue forgetting all my lyrics, it'd lose its charm. Vin: All right, so you have to get back on the horse then. Suzanne: Yeah, I gotta get back on the horse, yeah. Okay, so...take two. ["Marlene on the Wall," acoustic version] Vin: I don't think I've ever asked you this, Suzanne Vega. Was there-- There was an actual picture of Marlene. Suzanne: Yeah, a picture of Marlene Dietrich. Vin: Uh-huh. A picture, right. Suzanne: A photograph. Vin: Does it still exist? Do you still have it? Suzanne: Yeah, somewhere around. It was a small picture. And then after that, people gave me posters of her, so some of those are framed that I have in my house now. Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: The original picture, I think, is somewhere in a corner somewhere. Vin: Yeah. Hmm. So the other request we had was for "Gypsy." [SV laughs] Which as I recall was written either while you were still, like, a teenager-- Suzanne: Yeah, I was still at camp. Vin: And summer camp has something to do with it, right? Suzanne: Yeah. [laughs] Vin: Wasn't he...the boy was a counselor? Suzanne: He was a counselor at the boys' camp up the road, and I was a folk singing and disco dance counselor at that point. This was 1978. Vin: Wait a minute, wait, wait. A folk singing-- Suzanne: Yes... Vin: And disco dance? Suzanne: Well, you got two for one. [Vin laughs] Two for the price of one at that point. So I would teach folk singing, you know, for some of the-- my periods, and then disco dancing for the rest of that. This was the era of the Bee Gees. Vin: Yeah, sure. Suzanne: And so, yeah, this guy was...he was a counselor from Liverpool who was the arts and crafts counselor at the boys' camp up the road. And was a Dadaist painter actually. Vin: Ouch. Y'know? Suzanne: Who had sort of... [laughs] seems like he had shaved his head and it was still growing back, and he sort of applied to this camp not knowing what he was really getting into. He was kind of like a... a bit of a punk from Liverpool-- Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: And he just kind of applied as this anarchistic statement, and he got in, much to his own surprise, so the two of us became really good friends, and-- Vin: Where was this camp? Suzanne: This was up in upstate New York, near Mount Marcy. Vin: Uh-huh. Suzanne: In fact I still meet people who tell me, "Oh, my sister was in your bunk," and-- Vin: Ahhh. Suzanne: This kind of thing, and...so I worked there for one summer. And this is the song that came out of it. ["Gypsy," acoustic version] Vin: Suzanne Vega, that song, the line "Hold me like a baby that will not fall asleep" has probably taken on a different meaning for you now [SV laughs] from when you first wrote it as a teenager. Suzanne: No, same meaning, really It's just...more experience. Vin: Yeah. [laughs] Suzanne: Than I had before. Vin: The song called "Gypsy." Suzanne Vega. Well, this has been fun. I've enjoyed this tonight. Suzanne: Yeah, me too. Vin: Thank you. You've been very generous [SV laughs] with your time-- Suzanne: I've enjoyed it. Vin: And your conversation, and your music as well. I will send you on your way into the New York night with another song from the new album. Suzanne: Okay. Vin: And with a question also- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: Which is, can we look forward to performances above and beyond in-stores? Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: At some point soon? Do you have any plans? Suzanne: Yeah. I'll be coming back on a tour in October. I'll be at Irving Plaza. I don't remember the exact date. Vin: Oh, okay. Good. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: With that same configuration of musicians your album got, or-- Suzanne: No, actually, this is gonna be a different. We'll have Pete Thomas on drums, from the Attractions-- Vin: From the Attractions! Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: He's on the album. Suzanne: He's on the album. Vin: Oh, great. Suzanne: Mike Visceglia, my long-standing bass player-- Vin: Mm-hmm. Suzanne: On bass, Steve Donnelly on guitar, Mitchell Froom on keyboards, myself on acoustic guitar. Vin: And Ruby off in the wings somewhere? Suzanne: [laughs] Ruby's gonna be in bed. Vin: Oh, okay. All right. Good. So we'll look forward to that sometime in October. Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Okay. About a block and a half away from here, on 8th Avenue, just south of 57th Street, up above the stores-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: So, like, on the 3rd floor, I guess. I drive by every Sunday-- Suzanne: Mm-hmm. Vin: On my way to work, and I never looked up before to see the big, huge sign that says, "Headshots." [SV laughs] And the twelve headshots, the twelve-- Suzanne: That's funny. Vin: Black and white headshots, up there on the 3rd floor. Suzanne: Wow. Vin: It's on the west side of 8th Avenue-- Suzanne: Yeah. Vin: Just south of 57th Street. They're probably all over New York, aren't they, and I just never noticed them. Suzanne: Yeah, well, this particular song, I-- there was a a photographer who apparently wanted to get work very badly sometime about ten years ago or something, and he had flyers up all over the Village, and all over the East Village, and all over Soho, which was where I was-- you know, I still hang out mostly down around there, and so this was, like, a flyer that was up all over the place. All it said was-- the flyer only said, "Headshots," had a picture of a young man, and it had the numbers, and the man reminded me of someone that I used to live with. Vin: And so he was following you around everywhere. Suzanne: So he was watching me. [laughs] He was reminding me of unresolved things in my life. Vin: Mm-hmm. Well, I knew as soon as I looked up from my car a couple of hours ago and see this big, huge sign that said, "Headshots" that at some point along the way tonight I would have to play this song [SV laughs] from the new album. So I will play it as the final song. Suzanne: All right. Vin: And again, my thanks to you for a nice time on the radio. Suzanne: Thank you. Vin: Suzanne Vega. ["Headshots"]
transcribed and submitted by Steve Zwanger
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