Hey guys!

I went to see Suzanne at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on Monday night. She revealed that her Gypsy man, after 25 years, sent her a bunch of flowers and a card with his address on it that morning.

What a saga!

Niluferplum

i have always wondered who the gypsy man is.

gypsy is my favorite lullaby... sigh. Although I realize it is for a boyfriend type, for me...it feels more like a maternal...or, really, just parental or... hm. how can i put this? it feels like i'm a child being put to bed by some adult who happens to care about me.

Hi Christie,

yeah - Gypsy is my favourite, too! There were times I couldn't stop listening to it and playing it...

Yeah - I can understand what you say about the maternal atmosphere. It wasn't until March 2002 that I learnt the story behind the song and before that I was never quite sure what was the idea behind it. Suzanne could have written it for a good friend or from someone else's perspective reflecting upon a friendship...there were many interpretations possible. But anyway, you're right about the parental aspect.

Cheers,
Annika

Glad someone else sees it! Yeah, I didn't originally know it was for a boyfriend and didn't think of who or what kind of person it could be for. It just gave me a sense of security, I guess, in that the character seems to be held in this warm protection, comfortable and quiet. Content.

Well, yeah, you know - sometimes my boyfriend and I cuddle up in that way. But back then I hadn't experienced that, so I guess I wasn't ready to see the song in that boyfriend context.
When I heard the song for the very first time, a good friend of mine was leaving, so the last part of the song just seemed to macth the situation perfectly.

Cheers,
Annika

I've always loved that song. Probably since I was in fact, someone else's Gypsy, almost 20 years ago.
That's great to hear about Suzanne's getting the flowers...woohoo

Here's a video clip of Gypsy from her show in Liverpool itself on July 6, 2003.

Gypsy- Liverpool
http://homepage.mac.com/mooncusser/Vega/iMovieThea ter96.html

Hi!

I see that you mention that it wasn't until March 2002 that you learned the story behind Gypsy, Annika. I love the song, but I've never really heard the story behind it. Could you please give me a resyme, or a link to somewhere I can find it? Or if anyone else could help me with it. Suzanne's songs always speaks to me in some way, but it's always fascinating to learn the story behind the writing of them as well.

Love Linda

Hi Linda,

just want to let you know I've only just read your post! I'll let you know the story, o.k.? But it'll take me a while to type it down, so I'll post it a little later.

Happy New Year!

Annika

Hi Linda,

here’s what Suzanne said, before she played Gypsy:

“So we’ll sing a very old song now, and this was written from the summer when I had my very first summer romance – a very long time ago now! – and this was the summer when I was teaching small children how to disco-dance and folk-sing; it was one of my old jobs...and...in a camp, in New York, far away from New York City. So there was a girl’s camp, where I taught, and there was a boy’s camp. And in the boy’s camps there were counsellors, men, who taught the boys. So this song was written for one of the men who was teaching the boys how to do painting. And he was also...he was kind of a strange person, he was a [...] painter from Liverpool, England, who had found his way somehow into this camp teaching the boys anarchy, basically, and painting as well. So, we made a good match and we sort of, you know, became romantically involved over that summer and at the end of the summer I think we could sort of tell that maybe we wouldn’t continue seeing each other but I wanted to write him this song as a kind of a gift and he in return gave me his bandanna. “

Hope this helps...
Annika

I've just read Suzanne's road diary about the Dublin gig. In it, she once again mentions the story of the 'Gypsy' boy sending her flowers and gives a little bit more detail about the story. It appears that he wasn't aware that Suzanne had been playing 'his song' until about 4 years ago.

It was nice to get this further bit of info, especially as I was at Shepherd's Bush on 7th July last year when she had just received the flowers from him!

See http://www.suzannevega.com/discus/messages/4/2987. html?1087996411

Bye for now,

Chris.

Yeah, that was what I thought...

So I've had a touch of writer's block lately and for about 8 months now I've been completely obsessed with "Gypsy." I even just finished my first novel and entitled it _Gypsy_ since I listened to it so much during the writing.

Anyway, the other day when I couldn't think of anything to write, I decided to sort of do a rewrite of the lyrics to "Gypsy" just so I could write something. This is what happened:
---


you work in a coffee shop
you wear your hair too long
you have a stopwatch and a pencil book
all full of graphite pain
afternoon is the honeycomb
where we make our jagged art
deep into the visible
we stare until it’s dark

sing to me like thunderstorms
a crackling in my ear
there’s a song inside your head
I hear it when I wake

you’re the pauper of this kingdom
cursed like a jewel
jaded by the hopeful with their hairclips and their psalms
by the victims who are writing
poems to their loves
by the bitter in their black coats
who gaze with wary eyes

sing to me like thunderstorms
a crackling in my ear
there’s a song inside your head
I hear it when I wake

your tongue is snow and ice cream
and your earrings never match
your speech denies the emptiness
you sew on like a badge
with the artist
in the artwork
and a compass in your palm
the architect of chaos
with your castles made of sand

sing to me like thunderstorms
a crackling in my ear
there’s a song inside your head
I hear it when I wake

you work in a coffee shop
your clothes are always clean
I was the one to wake you up
but now I’ve gone to sleep
somewhere by a churchyard
with souvenirs to keep

sing to me like thunderstorms
a crackling in my ear
there’s a song inside your head
I hear it when I wake

this is beautiful writing. and you've kept the spirit of the song within your words and images. thank you very much for sharing it.

love,
fátima

---

chance is the only thing that doesn't happen by chance

Indeed wonderful, Erin.

Thanks so much for sharing this. All the imagery is very evocative and touching.

I wish i could see more of your writing.

j.c.

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