Quite strange that there's no Undertow-thread in the Suzanne Vega - album corner.. (or I must be really sleeping..which is also very possible)

For me it's quite a mysterious song, the different lines suitable in different situations or for different persons...a song that keeps me thinking...

Any other thoughts about meaning/interpretation?

*swaai*
Jetske

Undertow...I believe right now if i could i would swallow you whole/i would leave only bones & teeth, etc...basically i think its about stripping away the BS and getting to the core...have not heard the song in a while though

Long ago, I think it was in vega.net, I read that this song was about anorexia. If you think about it, it makes sense.

Woah...could be, indeed...I never thought of it this way and I'm never very good at finding the deeper meaning of songs, but we've been through that 'discussion' before and mostly it's what the song means to YOU. But this song touched me in some way, I don't know why...

As with so many of Suzanne's songs every phrase has a whole spectrum of meanings. Probably why she has such a wide fan base, certainly in terms of age and also of nationality as the MB shows.

I'm not sure about the anorexia theory to be honest. The song struck me as one person wanting to find out how another (their partner?) really ticks, so to speak. So by breaking down their defences, everyone can finally be honest with each other. Each has each other but is also free because all the BS has been washed away.

No doubt it will something else tomorrow, but whenever it does "Undertow" will remain a very special song

Somehow, I think the key is in this verse:

"I wanted to learn all the secrets From the edge of a knife From the point of a needle From a diamond From a bullet in flight"

Call me crazy, but I think she's talking about a bi-radial stylus tip... a record needle. The bi-radial stylus is a diamond tipped needle which presents a knife's edge to the record groove. When the record plays, the needle can be thought of as a bullet in flight.

She wants to learn "all the secrets" from a kick-ass record album... just as I am doing now. I am learning all the secrets of this song, you see?

With that solved, the rest of the song becomes obvious. She's obsessed with a rock-star (or a folk star, probably Leonard Cohen). She delves into the album - swallows it whole, and then picks it apart looking for meaning, answers, freedom (escape).

But She also wants to be one of those stars herself. She wants to be "that sleek". She wants to pass-on the obsession to a fan of her own. She's been sucked in by the undertow (the subtext) and now she wants to do the same to her own fans. She's friend to the undertow now, you see? Now it's she who pulls people in and won't let go.

Solve for X. That's how it's done with Vega Lyrics.

I like this idea a lot. For one that has 60% of his stuff on vinyl you would have thought that might have occured?

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the last point though. Did/Does Suzanne want to produce a lot of obsessive fans? You could argue that it's too late to worry now, but back then wasn't she doing it for herself? It may be that she is on record saying she wanted to reach out to people/fans and then you would be right but otherwise it was cleverly done because SV played its cards close to its chest if that were the case.

Suzanne grew up in a vinyl universe, and her obsession with Leonard Cohen is well documented. And old Leo has always been the cryptic poet (playing close to the chest). I imagine Suzanne as a youngster, wearing headphones, sitting in a rocking chair, listening to her favorit albums for endless hours, plumbing the depths for meaning.

Obsession... with a pair of headphones, sitting in a rocking chair, plumbing the depths of meaning... it's a great time! It's a gift! Old Leo sparked something inside Suzanne, and she's greatful for it, and he inspired her to do the same.

What star can't name the older star upon whose shoulders they stand? John Lennon points to Buddy Holly, for example. This song... this album by Suzanne is I think an attempt both to be worthy of Cohen, and to carry his poetic torch to new horizons.

Why are we obsessed with Suzanne, after all? It's because she knows "the secrets" of great poetry as taught to her by Cohen, off that vinyl, as the flying bullet flew and cut into those grooves when she was a kid.

I like this explanation!
The only obsession I fully dare to admit is mines with Mister Cohen.
Pat, I missed his name in your dream, was it yours in an other thread?, but maybe this is because He is just too unique to be part of!
And please don't talk about Him being "old", it's something I cannot live with, yet! Give me time.........
Corina

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mi lang fi di marvelous miracle a hurricane,
fi carry mi goh a meetin stream agen

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Give HIM time!

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mi lang fi di marvelous miracle a hurricane,
fi carry mi goh a meetin stream agen

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Hearing this song today in 2005 after hearing it since 1987, I'm almost convinced it's about eating disorders , the practice of cutting, and addictions.