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Suzanne Vega – East Harlem / Upper West Side, Manhattan
Suzanne Vega is that rare singer-songwriter whose work becomes part of the soundtrack of their hometown -- in her case, New York City. In this episode, Suzanne illuminates her childhood in East Harlem in the 1970s and how her experiences of the city, inside and out, flow through her work, even as she embraces the freedom to write from different perspectives. Suzanne's latest album is "An Evening of New York Songs and Stories," and as she discusses such songs as "Luka," "Gypsy," "Tom's Diner," and "Zephyr & I," we meet an artist fully alive to the truths of her coming of age and to the souls that linger in an urban landscape layered by time and memory.
In particular, when "Luka," a song about child abuse from a young boy's point of view, was first released in the 1980s, Suzanne shied away from questions about whether she was writing from experience or imagination. Not only was it a matter of artistic principle, but as she reveals, she also was afraid of what her stepfather, the novelist Ed Vega, might think. All these years later, Suzanne talks as never before about her personal connections to "Luka" and how its truth spoke to other people's truths.
Your Hometown is a show where the local is the epic. Visit yourhometown.org to subscribe to the podcast and our various social media channels.
Our co-presenter this season is the Museum of the City of New York. For more, including information on live events, check out our NYC series page at mcny.org/yourhometown-podcast.
Show Notes
Archival
2007: Irish in the Americas
Puerto Rican Iconoclast: The Work and Literary Lives of Edgardo Vega Yunqué
Music
Suzanne Vega - Luka (1987)
Suzanne Vega - New York Is My Destination (2016) Suzanne Vega - New York is a Woman (2007)
Suzanne Vega - Gypsy (1987)
Lou Reed - Caroline Says (Live at Firenze 1980)
Suzanne Vega - Would You Like Another One? (2020)
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (1992)
Suzanne Vega - Walk on the Wild Side (2020)
Suzanne Vega - Zephyr & I (Acoustic) (2010)
Suzanne Vega - Luka (2020)
Illustration
Nick Gregg
Poem
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Part 52, Leaves of Grass (1855)
“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood.
“Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.”
Recommended Listening
Suzanne Vega, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories
Recommended Reading
The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega
Special thanks
Steve Addabbo, Chris Schimpf, Mark Spector
View all episodes
By Kevin Burke
5
3232 ratings
Suzanne Vega is that rare singer-songwriter whose work becomes part of the soundtrack of their hometown -- in her case, New York City. In this episode, Suzanne illuminates her childhood in East Harlem in the 1970s and how her experiences of the city, inside and out, flow through her work, even as she embraces the freedom to write from different perspectives. Suzanne's latest album is "An Evening of New York Songs and Stories," and as she discusses such songs as "Luka," "Gypsy," "Tom's Diner," and "Zephyr & I," we meet an artist fully alive to the truths of her coming of age and to the souls that linger in an urban landscape layered by time and memory.
In particular, when "Luka," a song about child abuse from a young boy's point of view, was first released in the 1980s, Suzanne shied away from questions about whether she was writing from experience or imagination. Not only was it a matter of artistic principle, but as she reveals, she also was afraid of what her stepfather, the novelist Ed Vega, might think. All these years later, Suzanne talks as never before about her personal connections to "Luka" and how its truth spoke to other people's truths.
Your Hometown is a show where the local is the epic. Visit yourhometown.org to subscribe to the podcast and our various social media channels.
Our co-presenter this season is the Museum of the City of New York. For more, including information on live events, check out our NYC series page at mcny.org/yourhometown-podcast.
Show Notes
Archival
2007: Irish in the Americas
Puerto Rican Iconoclast: The Work and Literary Lives of Edgardo Vega Yunqué
Music
Suzanne Vega - Luka (1987)
Suzanne Vega - New York Is My Destination (2016) Suzanne Vega - New York is a Woman (2007)
Suzanne Vega - Gypsy (1987)
Lou Reed - Caroline Says (Live at Firenze 1980)
Suzanne Vega - Would You Like Another One? (2020)
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (1992)
Suzanne Vega - Walk on the Wild Side (2020)
Suzanne Vega - Zephyr & I (Acoustic) (2010)
Suzanne Vega - Luka (2020)
Illustration
Nick Gregg
Poem
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Part 52, Leaves of Grass (1855)
“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood.
“Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.”
Recommended Listening
Suzanne Vega, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories
Recommended Reading
The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega
Special thanks
Steve Addabbo, Chris Schimpf, Mark Spector