Suzanne's latest, quite interesting writing titled Voices and Visions (May 15) about songwriting and other mysteries can be read now in the Measure for Measure blog on New York Times web. Enjoy!

http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com

best wishes, Zoli

 

and there don't forget to listen to the song by Suzanne, 'Pale Cowboy' - great!!

best,Z

Hey Zoli, you’re better than an RSS feed! Was offline yesterday though so I just posted this comment to Suzanne’s lastest entry but probably because it’s like 2.30am in NY the blog moderators have yet to upload it: Cooool! What a treat to get to hear the beginnings of another SV classic! Just listening to the first bars of her guitar was like a homecoming. The richness and depth of using metaphors or symbols is that they open up to a wider and more universal application. While they may evoke shared connotations around the world, their meaning and significance could also vary from person to person, culture to culture, age to age. It usually takes a person of depth, sensitivity, maturity (not necessarily in terms of age) imagination and contemplation to creatively use symbolic language to aptly describe a person, an event, an experience, a relationship,...well, life itself. Suzanne Vega is such an artist who eloquently paints vignettes of life with shades and hues from her palette of ‘visions and voices’. Her poetic lyrics reflect her perceptive mind’s eye – one that continues to evolve with grace. Her melodies gifted with a strong rhythmic element never fail to move, haunt and inspire. And the execution of her songs with her elegant soothing voice is always a balm to the spirit. PS: Nicole, spammers at work again on the homepage. (and I still have no layout options here! sorry for the chunk of words again!)

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If you want peace, work for justice.

“I am attempting to write something that I see in a world beyond this one, and the metaphor is the way to get there”.

This are the most beautiful words I’ve read on your blog today, Suzanne. What kind of world is that? World of spirit and poetry against world of physics and daily routines, I wonder. Any suggestions?

Well, when I say to my co-workers that I have a vision about this or that, I see usually a smile on their faces. : -) Is she drunk or something, they ask. But I do not smile at all when you say about “Visions and Voices”. Yes, “they may go on to someone else”. The thought, the mind is the biggest treasure, unique and mysterious. Thank you.

Anna Maria K.

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

"What kind of world is that?"

a world "under this real life". always loved the fact that suzanne wrote *under* and not above, because it points to a very specific experience of this world and its elusive visions and voices. 

she is shaping another vision in "pale cowboy". four verses and a melody pouring out anticipation, suspension, possibilities and a strong but quiet belief. breathtaking.

finally, a heads-up: go back to "teen beat" and hear the demo version of "bound". i'm still speechless because literally *everything* the song needed was already there. its spirit and poetry first lived there, fully. amazing.

love, fátima

 

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

Hi fatima et al.,  

A world "under this real life" - I'd rather say "beyond", but yes, "under" is definitively better than "above"

And the demo version of  "bound" is totally amazing. I love it. I hope it'll make it onto some CD sometime...

Nothing much (not much)

Moni.  

hi moni,

"under this real life" is from "pornographer's dream", as i'm sure you noticed. suzanne did in fact use the word "beyond" in her blog entry, as anna quoted in this thread. i just made that comment because most people tend to see this world suzanne refers to as something above them, higher than them. but of course in suzanne's imagery throughout her work what really matters is mostly 'underneath', 'under' or 'within'.

love, fátima

 

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

Hi all : -)

The expression “under this real life” seems to me opposite to the expression “on the surface of this real  life” more than to the word “above this real life”. Just like “under the skin”, so definitely movement “within”. Just my impression of non native speaker  : -) and maybe the story of this expression is similar to the story about “cool” and “heat” in “Pale Cowboy”, “under” fits better to the rhythm of song and sounds better than “above”. Sorry, to be a bit harsh, but this is not the worse I’ve done on Undertow....

Love,

Anna Maria K.

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

i think i may have been misunderstood. :) i believe "under this real life" is the only expression suzanne could have chosen, not because of rhyme or rhythm, but because it's the only one that is true to the imagery and vision that cuts through her whole body of work, as i pointed out in my previous post.

i never meant to imply that suzanne should have used the word "above". i would have disliked it as it would have been very un-vegaesque. i only referred to it as the word most commonly used to attempt to describe this world beyond. most people see it as over them, so high it's unreachable.

suzanne says something else entirely: it's not a tangible world but if you're a clear vessel, not a "rusted pipe", this world will reach out to you sometimes and hopefully will reveal itself through you. this is what spirituality really is.

love, fátima

 

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

Yes, spirituality is not tangible at all. I feel that using words “under”, “above” (up, down) real life is misleading. Like in mandalas spiritual world is shown like a circle and inside this circle are four gates to the centre, four gates which symbolize four corners of Earth, movement north, south, east and west, but also up and down. According to Indians there is one direction more (in all 7 directions) - direction within. Circle doesn’t have above and under, but within and outside. This is for me spiritual life – circle with real life outside and wisdom and compassion inside. Sorry for disagreeing and sort of rebellion on my part.

love,

 anna maria k.

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

anna, i don't mean to pressure you at all, but in the last paragraph of my previous post i tried to explain how suzanne expresses spirituality and therefore what it's like for her and how she lives it. actually she told me this in my interview for "urgent whispers", 15 years ago. i wasn't surprised at all then, as i've always had a similar vision.

you might also remember that in that interview i told suzanne that i had an image of her body of work as rings of water produced when a pebble is thrown into it. she replied it made perfect sense to her, as there was this center, this core, from which you could spread, in all directions, without ever losing it. now please tell me: do you see the similarity in our (mine, suzanne's and yours) images?

this is an idea of spirituality (and yes, even back then i was attempting to say that most of suzanne's work is driven by this idea) but in order to be able to express it you have to clear the noise so you might "hear the creak that lets the tale begin": you have to try to be the cleanest vehicle possible so that connection (with what? ultimately with your inner self, or your "secret self", where the "tale" is kept and from which it unfolds) might happen and also you have to make time for it.

disagreements aside, i take your rebellion with love. :) be well, fátima

 

 

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

ps: let me rephrase my last sentence for clarity -- "disagreements included, i take your rebellion with love."

 

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

I thought that it may be interesting for everyone who's concerned about definition of spirituality. Personaly I read this with big interest. Here it goes:

" Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce 
attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. 
Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What 
they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The 
trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the 
essential point. This is true spirituality."

~ CHAKDUD TULKU RINPOCHE

with love,

anna maria k.

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