This time the melody’s metaphorical. When most of us think of a metaphor we suppose that it pertains to a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something that’s symbolic and not literally applicable. But music can serve the same purpose…a concept that Suzanne Nadine Vega thoroughly understands.
Born in Santa Monica, California in 1959, her parents were soon divorced and after her mother married a writer and teacher from Puerto Rico the family moved to Spanish Harlem in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. An artistic child who wrote her own songs, Vega later attended the celebrated High School of Performing Arts (anyone remember “Fame”?) where she studied modern dance, and began performing as a singer and musician in small Greenwich Village clubs while at Barnard College.
After some of her songs were included on a Fast Folk anthology record, she received a major recording contract. “Suzanne Vega” her eponymous debut album was released in 1985 and although critically well received in the U.S., it went platinum in the UK, setting the stage for “Solitude Standing” the 1987 album that includes today’s selection.
As an interesting aside, another track from the album, “Tom’s Diner” which takes place at the real Tom’s Restaurant (with an exterior that many of us recognize as the restaurant where the gang hung out on “Seinfeld”) was used as the reference track in an early trial of the MP3 compression system. Because it’s an a capella vocal with little reverberation and “wide spectral content” the song evidently lent itself to “hearing imperfections in the compression format” during playbacks. As a result, Vega is jokingly referred to as the “Mother of the MP3” and we can thank her vocal talent for the way these “Songs of the Day” have been conveyed for over a year now.
Of course it’s “Luka”, one of the earliest pop hits to deal with child abuse and domestic violence that remains Vega’s highest charting hit (reaching Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100). A Spanish language version of the song was also included on the single and (metaphorically speaking) in both versions the cheerful, upbeat music serves as a profound (and heartrending) metaphor for a victim who denies that something terrible is happening.
LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Monday 19 March
Luka
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
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
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
And they only hit until you cry
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
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