it's the only song from suzanne vega lp which I don't really like.

Re: Neighborhood Girls, Kirill wrote:

"it's the only song from suzanne vega lp which I don't really like."

I've always loved this song! It's so "New York Subway" to me—you're riding the train and are transported into other worlds by listening to open conversation between people. An everyday occurrence when you ride and listen.

I can easily see myself on the "A" train, listening to these two women discuss their local prostitutes. They seem more concerned about her than anything else, she's a part of the neighborhood—and despite what she may do to earn money, her status of 'missing' is duly noted and noticed.

Each of the women share their comments, interactions they've had with her until they realize that it's not the same girl! One has long black hair, the other, blonde—both in front of McKinsey's Bar! Yet, there are no derogatory remarks made, only that their "girl" is missing and they were "interested in her and her clientele."

I thought this song was brilliant the first time I heard it, and continue to listen to it (specifically) to this day. Whenever I'm on the subway in New York, it's always quietly playing in the back of MY mind as I listen to the conversations around me. What a wonderful way to segue a perfunctory subway ride into a song!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Suzanne is the master of being the silent witness. She then reinterprets information, feelings, observations into songs on CDs that we continue to listen to over and over and over again.

Kirill—with this in mind, give it another shot—and you might just hear it from another perspective.


Best Always—
Catherine

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"If we don't change the direction we are headed,
we will end up where we are going."

—Chinese Proverb

P.S.— José Carlos, why did you feel that the women (talking) were arrogant in tone? I didn't pick that up at all. Just curious.

Love, Catherine

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"If we don't change the direction we are headed,
we will end up where we are going."

—Chinese Proverb

Neighborhood girls is also about "not getting the entire story" of something (at least to me), which is sometimes very interesting. Just a moment, a snapshot. A lot of stories are told with blank spots that you have to fill in yourself.

Similar ideas popped up in my mind while watching Gus van Sant's "Elephant" last week. The press only tells you a story of a shooting at a school. But you will never understand the story in it's entirety, because no one will ever have the full story. This movie elaborates on that, telling the stories of different kids in the hour before a shooting, from different perspectives, so you feel that you're getting an entire picture. But it ends abruptly, just to show you that you shouldn't get to comfortable when you think you're getting a whole story, because you rarely actually do.

Spikes

Kirill—with this in mind, give it another shot—and you might just hear it from another perspective.

Oki. Thanks for getting me ineterested in the song!

Spikes: Agreed about "not getting the entire story", but then that could be said for many of Suzanne's songs, don't you think?

In my mind, this is purposely done to leave the door open for the listener's interpretation, which is why there are so many different takes from us on all of these songs! Personally, I *like* the open endedness—at different times the songs take on different meanings to me (depending on what I'm going through in my own life). I suppose that's why they remain timeless, and continue to hold my interest yet a little bit longer—

Kirill: Glad to have piqued your interest in this again. I would also go to the above link provided by Chris S. (Mooncusser Films), and watch and listen as Suzanne plays (most of it) live. It's also such a treat to see her flying fingers (as this is a faster song)! Enjoy! Here's the link again:

http://homepage.mac.com/mooncusser/Vega/iMovieThea ter49.html

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"If we don't change the direction we are headed,
we will end up where we are going."

—Chinese Proverb

ah! ain't got no quicktime installed...

Spikey wrote: …“But it ends abruptly, just to show you that you shouldn't get to comfortable when you think you're getting a whole story, because you rarely actually do”.

I’ve watched the movie you are referring to, Spikey, and I liked it for this same reason (among others). I would like to add to what you said that, even when you get a full story, there is no certainty of knowing how things truly went.

Each person usually tends to see things in his own perspective, most of the times unconsciously. This theme is well analysed also in a movie I think you would like and that I suggest you to watch (if you haven’t yet): its title is Rashômon, by Japanese master director Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a murder, seen through the eyes and words of four different people, all participants or eyewitnesses. In the end you have four different stories, and no clue about which of them pictures what really happened. Probably no one.

Then Catherine wrote: “Personally, I *like* the open endedness-at different times the songs take on different meanings to me (depending on what I'm going through in my own life). I suppose that's why they remain timeless, and continue to hold my interest yet a little bit longer”.

I’m in absolute agreement with what you said, Catherine.
Recently in an introduction to a book, I read this quote by D.H. Lawrence, that I find fitting: “Now a book lives as long as it is unfathomed. Once it is fathomed, once it is known and its meaning is fixed or established, it is dead”.
Most of Suzanne’s songs are –to me – a good example of timeless songs, for many different reasons, among which the open endedness you were speaking about, the themes they deal with, the way lyrics are written, and – of course – a bit of work on our end too; infact, I think that the listener's interpretation and actualization is very important as well, in order to make songs timeless. Getting to know the sources of inspiration of an artist and the events that brought him to write that particular song, it is an interesting and important starting point, but if we just did this, sooner or later the song would be “fathomed”. So, we have to take it to a higher level, try and see if the song can go beyond its original source of inspiration, and then try to understand what the words - and even the whole song - mean to US. Even if this sometimes means to find in the lyrics a meaning very far from the original concept. The best to me would be finding a balance between what the song originally meant and what it means to us.
Of course you can’t do this with all the songs that you listen to (recently very few songs by very few artists, to be true), but you can do this with almost all of Suzanne’s songs. Here lies one of the reasons why I consider her a great singer-songwriter.

Just my random thoughts…

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“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward

Gianluca:

Your 'random thoughts' were explained perfectly, and far better than mine, which just were gut reaction to Spikey's post.

Also, the movie you mentioned (Rashômon) has me curious. Old or relatively new? Subtitles? Just trying to figure out where I should look for it—sounds like one I'd be interested in seeing.

And to finish—you know that I am in complete agreement with your last line:

"Of course you can’t do this with all the songs that you listen to (recently very few songs by very few artists, to be true), but you can do this with almost all of Suzanne’s songs. Here lies one of the reasons why I consider her a great singer-songwriter."

Keep that random thinking going!

Love, Catherine

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"If we don't change the direction we are headed,
we will end up where we are going."

—Chinese Proverb

Dear Catherine,

Thank you my dear, I do promise I'll keep writing my random thoughts!

Rashômon is a milestone B&W movie that Akira Kurosawa directed in 1950, starring Toshiro Mifune (kind of his favourite actor... probably even more: a fetich, like Jean-Pierre Léaud to Truffaut) and I think you can find a DVD edition of it (in English language too) on Amazon.com too. Maybe you can also find it for renting.
Let me know what you think about it!

Much Love as always, Gianluca

(My best wishes for tonight's concert in another thread!)

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“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward

allow me to add just a few more thoughts on this. the truth in suzanne's universe is always something multiple. her songs are like pieces of an always changing puzzle, because they themselves keep evolving and inviting us to follow their motion. if there is one thing they all share, to my eyes, is this constant movement within. they are objects and vehicles of freedom.

this song in particular is also so great in its structure. no bridge, no chorus, just a dialogue with a 'monologue' within. and it's fast, sang as if it was almost spoken, keeping the pace and the rhythm of words exchanged. and it's also so candid in its way of showing us that there is always fiction in reality and reality in fiction. i always thought of it as suzanne's little tribute to lou reed/the velvet underground.

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

Not that Suzanne's songs are not mysterious, but maybe in that case she simply had to get off the train, oh she's gone, she's gone. :-O Just life, full of unfinished stories, because you have to "get off".
Anna

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"like a shadow, I am and I am not"

"Concealed, revealed, in the unknown, in the un-manifest. "

Rumi

Context is about beloved one, but this is what I would like to add to my previous post. I wonder if deep down every story is finished somehow, with the point of no return.
Anna

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"like a shadow, I am and I am not"

anna, all those years, before i became lost, i lived a different life. i thought, there will never be tomorrow. nonetheless, i did suddenly fall asleep, and then, there it is again, just as suddenly my eyes opened, light floods in, i am full, and the song begins.

one day i woke up, i was sick in bed. i looked for notes but walls slid in. i was waiting. watching wind make one branch strike the wall again and again. power lines black in twilight. what else could be inside me? that's when i heard what makes me break this silence and speak to you this way. i heard my name, i sat up. heard my voice drift out, replying yes, yes it's i who am here.

stories are never finished. the uprighting of self is a constant motion, and a beautiful one.

I must admit that my remark of finished stories was written from the point of view of bacteria. You were like antibiotic. This was the end of story of me like bacteria. ;-) I just tried to imagine reality where memory and language don’t exist. One story ends – the other begins. If I had a vase and it was broken that would be the end of story of my vase.

Be well, my dear friend,
Anna

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"like a shadow, I am and I am not"