March 11–18, 1999
critic pick
Suzanne Vega's songs have always been like vivid little short stories. Marlene on the wall. Calypso in his lonely island. Scenes from Tom's diner. And you remember little Luka who lives on the second floor.
So it's not surprising that they'd stand on their own, sans Vega's plaintive intonations.
The Passionate Eye (Spike) is a collection of Vega's writing including lyrics, poems, short stories and journal entries spanning the artist's career—and it's a long span. She pairs a poem she wrote at nine years old, "By Myself," with the similarly themed song written at 27, "Solitude Standing." In the introduction she explains, "Some things never change, especially in this particular life."
Vega also includes interviews she conducted in The Passionate Eye. Leonard Cohen, a strong influence on the singer-songwriter, banters with Vega in a dialogue that is at turns chatty and intense.
Reading The Passionate Eye (best read at fits and starts, Vega suggests), with its insightful portraits of urban life and inner struggles, is like peeking into a very personal diary. And by collecting her work thematically—issues of loneliness, oppression, love, death—she lets us in, unabashedly, to her writerly process.
At Borders on Thursday, Vega will mix up her mediums again in a talk/reading/performance/Q&A/autograph session. A rare treat—don't miss it.
Suzanne Vega, Thu., Mar. 18, 7 p.m., Borders Books and Music, 1149 Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA, 610-527-1500.
