Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega
Compilation - 22 aprile 2003 - Debaser id 70826

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you've seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble. some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was

I think it's because I'm clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it's because I'm crazy
I try not to act too proud

They only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore

Yes I think I'm okay
I walked into the door again
Well, if you ask that's what I'll say
And it's not your business anyway

I guess I'd like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don't ask me how I am
Just don't ask me how I am

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you've seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble. some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was

They only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore

Even if I am in love with you
All this to say, what's it to you?
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the fingerprints on me from you

Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing

But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

Well, I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher shop with the sawdust strewn
Don't give away the goods too soon
Is what she might have told me

And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And why I should be leaving

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing

But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing

But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

And even if I am in love with you
All this to say what's it to you
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the finger prints on me from you

Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later

And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every man who's been here

But the only one here now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing, changing,
changing, changing, changing,

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing

But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

Music & Lyrics by Suzanne Vega

It won't do
to dream of caramel,
to think of cinnamon
and long for you.


It won't do
to stir a deep desire,
to fan a hidden fire
that can never burn true.


I know your name,
I know your skin,
I know the way
these things begin;


But I don't know
how I would live with myself,
what I'd forgive of myself
if you don't go.


So goodbye,
sweet appetite,
no single bite
could satisfy...


I know your name,
I know your skin,
I know the way
these things begin;


But I don't know
how I would live with myself,
what I would give of myself
if you don't go.


It won't do
to dream of caramel,
to think of cinnamon
and long
for you.

Oh Mom, the dreams are not so bad
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something
His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin
And I just can't hear what he's saying

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the kids are playing in pennies
They're up to their knees in money
And the dirt of the churchyard steps

Oh Mom, that man he ripped out his lining
He tore out a piece of his body
To show us his "clean quilted heart"

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, the bird on the string is hanging
Her bones are twisting and dancing
She's fighting for her small life

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just that there's so much to do
And I'm tired of sleeping

Today I am
A small blue thing
Like a marble
Or an eye

With my knees against my mouth
I am perfectly round
I am watching you

I am cold against your skin
You are perfectly reflected
I am lost inside your pocket
I am lost against
Your fingers

I am falling down the stairs
I am skipping on the sidewalk
I am thrown against the sky

I am raining down in pieces
I am scattering like light
Scattering like light
Scattering like light

Today I am
A small blue thing
Made of china
Made of glass

I am cool and smooth and curious
I never blink
I am turning in your hand
Turning in your hand
Small blue thing

I'd like to help you doctor
Yes I really really would
But the din in my head
It's too much and it's no good
I'm standing in a windy tunnel
Shouting through the roar
And I'd like to give the information
You're asking for


But blood makes noise
It's a ringing in my ear
Blood makes noise
And I can't really hear you
In the thickening of fear


I think that you might want to know
The details and the facts
But there's something in my blood
Denies the memory of the acts
So just forget it Doc.
I think it's really
Cool that you're concerned
But we'll have to try again
After the silence has returned


Cause blood makes noise
It's a ringing in my ear
Blood makes noise
And I can't really hear you
In the thickening of fear


Blood makes noise...

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, off of the strip
In the outskirts
And in the fringes
In the corner, out of the grip

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, off of the strip
In the outskirts
And in the fringes
In the corner, out of the grip

When they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much" (not much)
I think they know that
I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be out of touch

But I'm only in the outskirts
And in the fringes
On the edge and, off the avenue
And if you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering about you

I think that somehow, somewhere inside of us
We must be similar, if not the same
So I continue
To be wanting you
Left of center, against the grain

And if you want me
You can find me
Left of center, off of the strip
In the outskirts
And in the fringes
In the corner, out of the grip

And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much" (not much)
I think they know that, I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be, out of touch

But I'm only in the outskirts
And in the fringes
On the edge and
Off the avenue
And if you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering about you

Wondering about you

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering about you

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering about you

Wondering about you
Wondering about you

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering
If you want me
You can find me
Left of center, wondering about you

Wondering about you
Wondering about you

I'll never be your Maggie May
The one you loved and left behind
The face you see in light of day
Then you cast away
That isn't me in that bed you'll find

I'd rather take myself away
Be like those ladies in Japan
Rather paint myself a face
Conjure up some grace
Or be the eyes behind a fan

And so you go
No girl could say no
To you

Oh, there's the way I may appear
But that will change from day to night
Would you ever see within?
Underneath the skin?
Could I believe you had that sight?


And so you go
No girl could say no
To you

I'll never be your Maggie May
The one you loved and then forgot
I'll love you first and let you go
Because it must be so
And you'll forgive or you will not

And so a woman leaves a man
And so a world turns on it's end
So I'll see your face in dreams
Where nothing's what it seems
Still you appear some kind of friend

And so you go
No girl could say no
To you

In Liverpool
On Sunday
No traffic
On the avenue
The light is pale and thin
Like you
No sound, down
In this part of town
Except for the boy in the belfry
He's crazy, he's throwing himself
Down from the top of the tower
Like a hunchback in heaven
He's ringing the bells in the church
For the last half an hour
He sounds like he's missing something
Or someone that he knows he can't
Have now and if he isn't
I certainly am


Homesick for a clock
That told the same time
sometimes you made no sense to me
if you lie on the ground
in somebody's arms
you'll probably swallow some of their history


And the boy in the belfry
He's crazy, he's throwing himself
Down from the top of the tower
Like a hunchback in heaven
He's ringing the bells in the church
For the last half an hour
He sounds like he's missing something
Or someone that he knows he can't
Have now and if he isn't
I certainly am


I'll be the girl who sings for my supper
You'll be the monk whose forehead is high
He'll be the man who's already working
Spreading a memory all through the sky


In Liverpool
On Sunday
No reason to even remember you now


Except for the boy in the belfry
He's crazy, he's throwing himself
Down from the top of the tower
Like a hunchback in heaven
He's ringing the bells in the church
For the last half an hour
He sounds like he's missing something
Or someone that he knows he can't
Have now and if he isn't
I certainly am


In Liverpool
In Liverpool

You come from far away
With pictures in your eyes
Of coffeeshops and morning streets
In the blue and silent sunrise
But night is the cathedral
Where we recognized the sign
We strangers know each other now
As part of the whole design

Oh, hold me like a baby
That will not fall asleep
Curl me up inside you
And let me hear you through the heat

You are the jester of this courtyard
With a smile like a girl's
Distracted by the women
With the dimples and the curls
By the pretty and the mischievous
By the timid and the blessed
By the blowing skirts of ladies
Who promise to gather you to their breast

Oh, hold me like a baby
That will not fall asleep
Curl me up inside you
And let me hear you through the heat

You have hands of raining water
And that earring in your ear
The wisdom on your face
Denies the number of your years
With the fingers of the potter
And the laughing tale of the fool

The arranger of disorder
With your strange and simple rules
Yes now I've met me another spinner
Of strange and gauzy threads
With a long and slender body
And a bump upon the head

Oh, hold me like a baby
That will not fall asleep
Curl me up inside you
And let me hear you through the heat

With a long and slender body
And the sweetest softest hands
And we'll blow away forever soon
And go on to different lands
And please do not ever look for me
But with me you will stay
And you will hear yourself in song
Blowing by one day

Oh, hold me like a baby
That will not fall asleep
Curl me up inside you
And let me hear you through the heat

In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams


I took your urgent whisper
Stole the arc of a white wing
Rode like foam on the river of pity
Turned its tide to strength
Healed the hole that ripped in living


In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams


The spine is bound to last a life
Tough enough to take the pounding
Pages made of days of open hand


In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams


Number every page in silver
Underline in magic marker
Take the name of every prisoner
Yours is there my word of honor


I took your urgent whisper
Stole the arc of a white wing
Rode like foam on the river of pity
Healed the hole that ripped in living


In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams
In my book of dreams

Music & Lyrics by Suzanne Vega

Ante up. And don't be shy.
Who is that man who is catching my eye?
What's underneath all of the deadpan face?
Sitting so pretty with a criminal grace?


Lamebrain Pete wants to Spit in the Sea.
He's got a cool hand but it isn't for me.
Butcher Boy thinks he'll be splitting the pot.
But I've seen what he's got and it isn't a lot.


(When deuces are wild you can follow the queen.
I'd go too except I know where she's been.)


I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you
But it's no cheap thrill
It will cost you, cost you, cost you
Anything you have to pay.


I limit the straddles, and you shuffle and deal.
When will the dealer reveal how he feels?
Is the lucky beginner just a five-card stud?
Is this winning streak going to be nipped in the bud?


I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you
But it's no cheap thrill
It will cost you, cost you, cost you
Anything you have to pay.


I'll match you, I'll bet you, I'll play you,
But it's no cheap thrill
It will cost you, cost you, cost you
Anything you have to pay.

My name is Calypso and I have lived alone
I live on an island and I waken to the dawn
A long time ago I watched him struggle with the sea
I knew that he was drowning and I brought him into me
Now today come morning light
He sails away after one last night
I let him go

My name is Calypso
My garden overflows
Thick and wild and hidden is the sweetness there that grows
My hair blows long as I sing into the wind
I tell of nights where I could taste the salt on his skin
Salt of the waves and of tears
And while he pulled away
I kept him here for years
Now I let him go

My name is Calypso
I have let him go
In the dawn he sails away to be gone forever more
And the waves will take him in again
But he'll know their ways now
I will stand upon the shore
With a clean heart and my song in the wind
The sand may sting my feet and the sky will burn
It's a lonely time ahead
I do not ask him to return
I let him go
I let him go

Music & Lyrics by Suzanne Vega

If your love were taken from me
Every color would be black and white
It would be as flat as the world before Columbus
That's the day that I lose half my sight


If your life were taken from me
All the trees would freeze in this cold ground
It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus
Sail to the edge and I'd be there looking down


Those men who lust for land
And for riches strange and new
Who love those trinkets of desire
Oh they never will have you


And they'll never know the gold
Or the copper in your hair
How could they weigh the worth
Of you so rare


If your love were taken from me
Every light that's bright would soon go dim
It would be as dark as the world before Columbus
Down the waterfall and I'd swim over the brim


Those men who lust for land
And for riches strange and new
Who love those trinkets of desire
Oh they will never have you


And they'll never know the gold
Or the copper in your hair
How could they weigh the worth
Of you so rare

Solitude stands by the window
She turns her head as I walk in the room
I can see by her eyes she's been waiting
Standing in the slant of the late afternoon

And she turns to me with her hand extended
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame

Solitude stands in the doorway
And I'm struck once again by her black silhouette
By her long cool stare and her silence
I suddenly remember each time we've met

And she turns to me with her hand extended
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame

And she says "I've come to set a twisted thing straight"
And she says "I've come to lighten this dark heart"
And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear
And I say "I've never thought of finding you here"

I turn to the crowd as they're watching
They're sitting all together in the dark in the warm
I wanted to be in there among them
I see how their eyes are gathered into one

And then she turns to me with her hand extended
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame

And she says "I've come to set a twisted thing straight"
And she says "I've come to lighten this dark heart"
And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear
And I say "I've never thought of finding you here"

Solitude stands in the doorway
And I'm struck once again by her black silhouette
By her long cool stare and her silence
I suddenly remember each time we've met

And she turns to me with her hand extended
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame

Once I stood alone so proud
Held myself above the crowd
And now I'm low on the ground

From here I look around to see
What avenues belong to me
I can't tell what I've found

Now what would you have me do?
I ask you please
I wait to hear

The mother and the matador
The mystic, each were here before
Like me to stare you down

You appear without a face
Disappear but leave your trace
I feel your unseen frown

Now what would you have me do?
I ask you please
I wait to hear
Your voice
The word
You say
I wait
To see your sign
Would I
Obey?

I look for you in heathered moor
The desert and the ocean floor
How low does one heart go?

Looking for your fingerprints
I find them in coincidence
And make my faith to grow

Forgive me all my blindnesses
My weakness and unkindnesses
As yet unbending still

Struggling so hard to see
My fist against eternity
And will you break my will?

Now what would you have me do?
I ask you please
I wait to hear
Your voice
The word
You say
I wait
To see your sign
Would I
Obey?

Now what would you have me do?
I ask you, please.
I wait to hear
Your voice
The word
You say
I wait
To see your sign
Could I
Obey?

Do you remember how you walked with me
down the street into the square?
How the women selling rosemary
pressed the branches to your chest,
promised luck and all the rest,
and put their fingers in your hair?

I had met you just the day before,
like an accident of fate,
in the window there behind your door.
How I wanted to break in
to that room beneath your skin,
but all that would have to wait.

In the Carmen of the Martyrs,
with the statues in the courtyard
whose heads and hands were taken,
in the burden of the sun;
I had come to meet you
with a question in my footsteps.
I was going up the hillside
and the journey just begun.

My sister says she never dreams at night
there are days when I know why;
those possibilities within her sight,
with no way of coming true.
Some things just don't get through
into this world , although they try.

In the Carmen of the Martyrs
with the statues in the courtyard
whose heads and hands were taken,
in the burden of the sun;
I had come to meet you
with a question in my footsteps.
I was going up the hillside
and the journey just begun.

All I know of you
is in my memory
All I ask is you
Remember me.

Too hot. No air.
Loud fan and a big tin can.
Wait here. Steer clear.
They've gone to get your man.


10 AM.
Through gate 3 with picture ID.
This old billfold
Experiences security.


I hear the click. These men are hard.
I'll see your face through bar and guard.
You're new to me. I'm new to you.
I see your fate. I'll see you
You through.


Ice within.
And it's all cement in the government.
Approved? Then move
To the plywood booth where the prisoner's sent.


You read in red
The letters on the door and you know what they're for.
You feel unreal.
And the rattling chain's coming over the floor.


I hear the clock. These walls are green.
I see your face through tin and screen.
You're new to me. I'm new to you.
I see your fate. I'll see you
You through.


Too hot. No air.
Loud fan and a big tin can.
Wait here. Steer clear.
They've gone to get your man.