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Suzanne Vega

American singer-songwriter

Suzanne Nadine Vega (born 11 July 1959) is an American singer-songwriter known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.

They only hit until you cry,
After that, you don't ask why.

Song lyrics

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I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why.

Suzanne Vega (1985)

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  • The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door,
    He said "I am not fighting for you any more."
    • The Queen and the Soldier
  • "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
    And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
    But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
    Only first I am asking you why.
    • The Queen and the Soldier
  • I have swallowed a secret burning thread.
    • The Queen and the Soldier
  • I won't march again on your battlefield.
    • The Queen and the Soldier
  • If you were to kill me now right here,
    I would still look you in the eye
    • In the Eye

Left of Center (1986)

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(written by Suzanne Vega and Steve Addabbo)

  • And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
    I always answer, "Nothing much" (Not much)
    • Left of Center
  • I think they know that
    I'm looking at them
    I think they think
    I must be out of touch
    But I'm only
    In the outskirts
    And in the fringes
    On the edge
    And off the avenue
    And if you want me
    You can find me
    Left of center
    Wondering about you
    • Left of Center

Solitude Standing (1987)

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(All lyrics were written by Suzanne Vega except where noted)

 
I am sitting in the morning
at the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter
for the man to pour the coffee
  • I am sitting in the morning
    at the diner on the corner
    I am waiting at the counter
    for the man to pour the coffee
    and he fills it only halfway
    and before I even argue
    he is looking out the window
    at somebody coming in.
    • Tom's Diner
  • "It is always nice to see you"
    Says the man behind the counter
    To the woman who has come in
    She is shaking her umbrella
    And I look the other way
    As they are kissing their hellos
    And I'm pretending not to see them
    • Tom's Diner
  • I open up the paper,
    there's the story of an actor
    who had died while he was drinking,
    it was no one I had heard of.
    • Tom's Diner
  • My name is Luka.
    I live on the second floor.
    I live upstairs from you.
    Yes, I think you've seen me before.
    • Luka
  • If you hear something late at night,
    Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight,
    Just don't ask me what it was.
    • Luka
  • They only hit until you cry,
    After that, you don't ask why.
    • Luka
  • The light and sweet coffee color of her skin
    • Ironbound / Fancy Poultry by Suzanne Vega & Anton Sanko
  • Kids will grow like weeds on a fence
    She says they look for the light, they try to make sense
    They come up through the cracks like grass on the tracks
    She touches him goodbye
    • Ironbound / Fancy Poultry by Suzanne Vega & Anton Sanko
  • By day give thanks
    By night beware
    Half the world in sweetness
    The other in fear
    • Night Vision by Suzanne Vega and Anton Sanko
  • When the darkness takes you
    With her hand across your face
    Don't give in too quickly
    Find the thing she's erased
    • Night Vision by Suzanne Vega and Anton Sanko
  • Solitude stands by the window
    she turns her head as I walk in the room
    I can see by her eyes she's been waiting
    Standing in the slant of the late afternoon
    • Solitude Standing by Vega, Sanko, Shulman, Michael Visceglia, Stephen Ferrera
  • And she turns to me with her hand extended
    Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame
    ...And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight",
    And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart"
    • Solitude Standing by Vega, Sanko, Shulman, Michael Visceglia, Stephen Ferrera
  • If language were liquid
    It would be rushing in
    Instead here we are
    In a silence more eloquent
    Than any word could ever be
    These words are too solid
    They don't move fast enough
    To catch the blur in the brain
    That flies by and is gone.
    • Language by Vega & Mike Visceglia
  • I'd like to meet you
    In a timeless, placeless place
    Somewhere out of context
    And beyond all consequences
    ...And we'll sit in the silence (That flies by and is gone)
    That comes rushing in
    And is gone
    • Language by Vega & Mike Visceglia
  • You come from far away
    With pictures in your eyes
    Of coffeeshops and morning streets
    In the blue and silent sunrise
    But night is the cathedral
    Where we recognized the sign
    We strangers know each other now
    As part of the whole design
    • Gypsy
  • You're the jester of this courtyard
    With a smile like a girl's
    Distracted by the women
    With the dimples and the curls
    By the pretty and the mischievous
    By the timid and the blessed
    By the blowing skirts of ladies
    Who promise to gather you to their breast
    • Gypsy

Days of Open Hand (1990)

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(All lyrics were written by Suzanne Vega except where noted)

  • Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something
    His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin
    And I just can't hear what he's saying
    Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
    It's just that there's so much to do
    And I'm tired of sleeping
    • Tired of Sleeping
  • Those whole girls...
    Breathe with ease
    Need no mercy
    Move in light
    Run in grace
    • Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)
  • Travel, arrival
    Years of an inch and a step toward a source
    I'm coming to you
    I'll be there in time
    • Pilgrimage by Suzanne Vega & Anton Sanko
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