Obviously Dave is right, ultimately it was all up to choose the ones Suzanne thought were the best. About the others Suzanne has been saying many times she feels they're weak, and dated.

About The Marching Dream in particular, here's a quote from http://rustedpipe.vega.net

"This next song is one of those songs that I'd never really meant to sing for anybody..."
In concert: Iron Horse, Northampton, Massachussetts, 17 May 1984


Now about an album. Suzanne said publicly several times she'd like to release the old demos. I don't think the idea is to re-record the songs, let alone in several versions, but just to release the existent demos. I'm sure that will happen sooner or later.

I've been lobbying for that a lot in the past, so I'm keeping a low profile for now

All the best,
J.C.

---

http://www.vega.net
http://setlists.vega.net
http://rustedpipe.vega.net

I agree with JC, mostly.

Myself, I would have thrown out Freeze Tag and Undertow I think (though I do like them, I like some other songs better), but the thing is, it wasn't up to us to select those songs.

I really disagree that the songs are dated. Good music is eternal, always relevant and never loses it's value. Those songs that didn't make it to Suzanne Vega are like that.

Black widow station
Playing
the Silver Lady
The Marching Dream
Daniela
The Boulevardiers
Just Friends
The Rent song
Don't tell me

I know what they sound like. I know the text. Perhaps it would have been better never to learn of the existence of those songs, cause now I'm dying for proper recordings of those, and most likely I'll never have them. Suzanne probably won't even remember how to play some of those songs.

Spikes

spikes wrote:

> I know what they sound like. I know the text. Perhaps it would have > been better never to learn of the existence of those songs, cause now > I'm dying for proper recordings of those

wouldn't this be the set up for a perfect tribute album by some of suzanne's colleagues?

> Black widow station by lou reed

> Playing by the indigo girls

> The Silver Lady by kate bush

> The Marching Dream by leonard cohen

> Daniela by david byrne

> The Boulevardiers by joni mitchell

> Just Friends by brian rose

> The Rent song by radiohead (?)

> Don't tell me by natalie merchant

remember me,

philipp www.200lurkers.com

Sorry for coming across as so catty. I actually wasn't in a BAD mood, just a DEVIOUS one. I sort of felt the way I imagine a Parker Posey character behaves. LOL.

-M

Just to sort of tickle Suzanne herself; When the bloody bastard fook-a-dook are you going to record "Playing, The
Boulevardiers, The Leaf Song and Just Friends"?


Suzanne, why not make real studio tracks out of these while you still have the voice for it, huh? One day soon it will be too late and your fans will be left with a second hand noise version of these tracks. Come on!! be a sport and record em, they are part of your best repertoire!!! You can do it, miss!

Well Ralph, we all want the old songs to be recorded properly. Do you have the radio recording of Playing? That's a pretty good one.

There was talk of a CD with a few old songs a long, long time ago, but it never did see the light of day. I guess the Marching Dream, the Silver Lady, the Rent Song, Black Widow Station, Playing, the Boulevardiers and Daniella were to be on it, but who can tell.

Ah well. Let's dream on. The best we can do on the Marching Dream is the fastfolk demo, Black Widow Station as appeared on the B-side of Small Blue Thing LTD edition (not the Live in London one, please), Playing from that radio show (not from the Italian show, please), Daniella from some illegal Italian recording (if I remember it correctly) and all the others from that circulating very very bad quality illegal recording of one of the first shows.



Spikes

A low generation soundboard recording of both early and late sets at the following venue has been discovered:

SUZANNE VEGA
IRON HORSE MUSIC HALL,
NORTHAMPTON,MA.,USA
MAY 17,1984

CD1
1-TOM'S DINER
2-SMALL BLUE THING
3-THE BOULEVARDIERS
4-THE QUEEN & THE SOLDIER
5-KNIGHT MOVES
6-GYPSY
7-CRACKING
8-NEIGHBORHOOD GIRLS
9-CALYPSO

CD2
1-SOME JOURNEY
2-UNDERTOW
3-THE RENT SONG
4-SILVER LADY
5-STRAIGHT LINES
6-BLACK WIDOW STATION
7-THE MARCHING DREAM
8-MARLENE ON THE WALL
9-FREEZE TAG

Before you drown in your drool, or lose your eyeballs in your keyboard, remember the shows pre-date the eponymous first album release yet also contain 5 early rarities - largely unreleased - and 3 songs which later appeared on "Solitude Standing".

Lefty

---

"...when the armies of emotion
go out to fight..."

Lefty!!!

Details, please!

Where were they discovered?  When?  By whom?

I'm *dying* to know.

Oh Suzanne, release these or put them up on iTunes or *something*.  Your fans are in need of satiation. 

 :D