Private Goes Public is like one of my favorite Suzanne Vega songs and in my opinion Obvious Question has a very similar essence. That's why I love it so much too. EdgeBoston called Obvious Question "a short meditation" and that's also how I feel about this song. But I wish it weren't released only with the Japanese edition of the album or via I-tunes. There are some countries which doesn't have access to i-tunes, (yes, like mine).

 luv;

Zeynep

[excerpt taken from the interview in "urgent whispers", regarding "99.9F" and "private goes public"]

[me] "The album ends with two acoustic ballads, which give a feeling of release and lightness to its closure.

[suzanne] "Private Goes Public" should be considered a separate song. It was meant like a little tail, like a bonus.

[suzanne] Because my record company asked me for a bonus track for Europe, so if we released it here in America then it couldn't be the bonus track for Europe (laughs). And I was going to take it out. In the beginning, it was going to be in between "Fat Man & Dancing Girl" and "(If You Were) In My Movie". That's where it was going to be the thirteenth song of the album, and I took it out because I felt that it was another sad waltz, which I had three or four of, and I didn't want it to have so many sad waltzes. So I felt that it weighed the album into being heavy inside and I wanted it to be more uplifting."

zeynep, in her november message, last year, suzanne presented 12 songs, "obvious question" included. i brought up "private goes public" to this discussion because i feel something similar to what suzanne  described to me above happened to the song we're discussing. they both fitted their respective albums but "weighed" them too much if they were part of the tracklist.

and what i meant to say in my first post is that i feel they end up by having a similar function: they reflect upon the whole of the albums they belong to ( "a short meditation" to each of them sounds fine to me too). isn't "99.9F" an album where a lot of what had been private goes public? and isn't "beauty & crime", among other things, about that '&', that line in between things that we wonder how long will remain safely drawn?

oh, and by the way, i think it's a cello, but i may be wrong.

love, fátima

fatima:

oh, and by the way, i think it's a cello, but i may be wrong.

Actually you're right, it sounds more like a cello

:) 

actually, dear zeynep, i think we're both right. it's a violin *&* a cello and they're both playing the same melody line, in different tones, of course (the violin higher and the cello lower). listen closely.

love, fátima 

zeynep:

Private Goes Public is like one of my favorite Suzanne Vega songs and in my opinion Obvious Question has a very similar essence. That's why I love it so much too. EdgeBoston called Obvious Question "a short meditation" and that's also how I feel about this song. But I wish it weren't released only with the Japanese edition of the album or via I-tunes. There are some countries which doesn't have access to i-tunes, (yes, like mine).

 luv;

Zeynep

p.s: I forgot to add, this song also reminds me of "50/50 Chance" a lot. Maybe because of the violin (that's violin,right?: ) 

I do agree with you: even the structure of the song and the way it is featured on the album (as a bonus track) makes similarities with PGP.

It's a shame the bonus track policy attempts the fans to have access to Suzanne's great songs, like for "Golden"...  

Since I'm in the U.S. and my copy of Beauty and Crime doesn't include this song, is there some way for me to get the lyrics to "Obvious Question"?  I will probably end up ordering the Import version of Beauty and Crime as well (I have three versions of Retrospective!), but meanwhile I would really like to see the lyrics to "Obvious Question."

Hey there;

I couldn't find the lyrics on the internet so I tried to decipher it myself. There may be some mistakes, so forgive me :)

Obvious Question

“I am sitting over here.

The line is safely drawn.

The obvious question is

how long does this go on

Alcohol danced upon his nerves,

played upon his skin,

made him mad inside,

broke everything within.

And now, it does the same to me.

Needle points a fire

(???).. around my neck.

The spirits take the man.

Leave behind a/the reck

I am sitting over here.

The line is safely drawn.

The obvious question is

how long does this go on”

best;

Zeynep

almost right, zeynep. here are the lyrics as they appear on the japanese insert (not on the booklet, which is the same as the international edition) included on the japanese edition of "beauty & crime":

Obvious Question

"I am sitting over here

the line is safely drawn

the obvious question is

how long does this go on?

alcohol danced upon his nerves

played upon his skin

made him mad inside

broke everything within

and now it does the same to me

in needlepoints of fire

wreathed around my neck

the spirits take the man

and leave behind a wreck

I am sitting over here

the line is safely drawn

the obvious question is

how long does this go on?"

the insert doesn't give any info about the musicians or instruments used, although it's 'obvious' suzanne sings and plays acoustic guitar. i'd say there is some programming at the beginning and end of it and the use of a cello and a violin. and since this song seems to have been recorded during the "beauty & crime" sessions the musicians credited as playing these instruments on other songs must have played on this one as well. but this is just a guess, so confirmation or correction would be appreciated. 

thanks in advance, fátima

Thanks so much for the lyrics to this song, which I still haven't heard!  I'll have to get the import I guess.

Interesting lyrics.  Given other things Suzanne has said, are we to assume that "he" is Suzanne's brother?