After years of deliberation and consideration about this song, I've come to the conclusion that in this song, Suzanne has slipped a roofie into some poor young man's drink. Shame on you!

hi!!i think thats crap!!
its one of the finest songs shes ever done and she even gave me an acoustic treat when she played it as a 2nd encore last year in london.i know cos i was in front row and shouted 4 it!!
ta suzy xxx

You're right Paul. It is crap. I was just being sensational.

i know sweetie!!

Well, for the record, the line that made me think of rohypnol was "...embrace that white oblivion."

Of course it's silly to think of Suzanne as the perpetrator of a date-rape, but rohypnol is indeed a white pill, known as the "forget pill". It not only loosens-up the victim to the point where they are easy prey, but when mixed with alcohol, the drug will induce amnesia... hence "oblivion".

Still, there are distinctly "secuctive" overtones to these lyrics. What possible scenario would require a beautiful woman to actually "work" for the sexual consent of a man, provided he's not gay?

Well, he'd have to be a religious fanatic who sees premarital sex as a sin and actually has the conviction to resist temptation.

In this song, it seems that the "Jezabel" has won the day, but not without complications. Is this due to the foibles of the male, the cunning of the female, or some combination of both?

Annie Lennox seems to think it's unwise to mess with a missionary man, but in a strange twist of events, Suzanne Vega is quite willing to go in where angels fear to tread.

hmm, upon longer thought, it is my second or third favorite, it just captures a kind of an atmosphere I like... along with my all-time favorite "thin man" and with songs like "undertow", "wooden horse" or "in liverpool"...

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