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Suzanne Vega: Songs in Red and Gray

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: A&M Records
Released: 2001.09.24
Time:
 45:25
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Rupert Hine
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.suzannevega.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2001.09.26
Price in €: 14,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Penitent (S.Vega) - 4:16
[2] Widow's Walk (S.Vega) - 3:33
[3] Make Me Wonder - 4:00
[4] Maggie May - 3:46
[5] Soap and Water (S.Vega) - 3:03
[6] Songs in Red and Gray (S.Vega) - 4:18
[7] Last Year's Troubles (S.Vega) - 3:35
[8] Priscilla (S.Vega) - 4:14
[9] If I Were a Weapon (S.Vega) - 2:45
[10] Harbor Song (S.Vega) - 4:18
[11] Machine Ballerina (S.Vega) - 2:57
[12] Solitaire (S.Vega) - 2:10
[13] St. Claire (J.Hardy) - 2:29

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


SUZANNE VEGA - Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocals

RUPERT HINE - Piano, Strings, Keyboards, Bass, Drum Programming, Percussion, Orchestral Percussion, Woodwinds, Arranger, Producer
NICK PUGH - Synth Lead, Drum Programming
GERRY LEONARD - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Zither, Dulcimer
MIKE VISCEGLIA - Bass
MATT JOHNSON - Drums
JAY BELLEROSA - Drums
DOUG YOWELL - Drums & Percussions
OLLIE W. TYLER - Swirly Carousel & Mechanism
ELIZABETH TAUNMAN - Backing Vocals, Harmony Vocals
PAMELA SUE MAN - Backing vocals, Harmony Vocals

STEPHEN W. TYLER - Recording, Engineer, Mixing
HECTOR CASTILLIO - Ass. Engineer
MICHAEL TUDOR - Recording
GREG CALBI - Mastering
MELANIE NIESSEN - Photography
JANET WOLSBORN - Design
YOHJI YAMAMOTO - Clothes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD A&M 10493
2001 CS A&M 10493
2001 CD Uptown/Universal 493111



In musical terms, it is less significant that Mitchell Froom is no longer Suzanne Vega's husband than it is that he is no longer her producer. Although Froom's experimental style helped the singer/songwriter fulfill her desire to expand beyond her folk-pop roots on her fourth and fifth albums, 99 F° and Nine Objects of Desire, his approach actually worked against the material, cluttering her intimate, direct songs with inappropriate percussion tracks and various kinds of sound processing. So, listeners who responded strongly to her first three albums but found the Froom discs off-putting (and there were plenty of them) should be alerted that, sonically, Songs in Red and Gray is ready to welcome back old fans. Produced by Rupert Hine, it has the kind of carefully played acoustic guitar work and close-up vocal miking that characterized Suzanne Vega and Solitude Standing. That makes it easier to appreciate Froom's departure from Vega's personal life as well as her professional one, however. This is very much a divorce album, its songs frequently touching on romantic discord and the resulting fall-out. Vega is both precise and artful in describing the situation. She writes by metaphor, unafraid, on "Machine Ballerina," for example, to mix those metaphors and pile them up. That allows her some emotional distance, but never at the expense of meaning. Her concern with the dissolution of her marriage and its impact on her child is apparent in "Soap and Water" when she sings, "Daddy's a dark riddle/Mama's a headful of bees/you are my little kite /carried away in the wayward breeze," even though the lines make up a succession of metaphors. Her calm, hushed, clear singing only emphasizes the emotional torment the songs trace. The result is an album on a par with her best work.

William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Suzanne Vega remains one of the most relentlessly, mercilessly tasteful recording artists alive. Every note on Songs in Red and Gray has been arranged with the meticulous precision of a butler laying silver on a table, every sound so polished and buffed that you barely notice you're listening, every syllable of every lyric only admitted to the melodies after painstaking reviewing and rewriting, and every song sung as if Vega believes that her core audience consists of elocution teachers. This has, occasionally, worked for Vega before - it should not be forgotten what an original presence she sounded around "Left of Centre" and "Marlene On The Wall"- and it works, occasionally, for Vega now. There are a few fine songs here - notably the gently acerbic "Last Year's Troubles" and the wryly subversive "Maggie May" (not the Rod Stewart standard) - but there is also a whole lot of glutinous, over-refined suet. Vega still needs to give her songs a much longer leash.

Andrew Mueller - Amazon.co.uk



Songs In Red And Gray marks Suzanne Vega's first album since 1996's Nine Objects Of Desire, as the folk singer/songwriter took five years off to raise her daughter. Vega's trademark wistful vocals and poetically cerebral lyrics emerge with more poignancy and introspection on this album, obviously the after-effects of her collapsed marriage to producer Mitchell Froom. Vega's personal struggles are spelled out for listeners: "Soap and water/ take the day from my hand/ scrub the salt from my stinging skin/ slip me loose of this wedding band," she intones in "Soap And Water." As with all of the singer's albums, Songs is simultaneously tender and haunting, moving listeners to empathy during one song only to befuddle them with the esoteric imagery in the next. Yet it is the reliable elegance of Vega's voice - perfectly complemented by an acoustic guitar - set against a backdrop of assorted strings and percussion that gives fans the comfort and intimacy they've come to expect.

CMJ New Music Report Issue: 732 - Sep 17, 2001
College Media, Inc.



Suzanne Vega, manchen wohl besser bekannt als die "Luka" aus dem zweiten Stock oder als Bedienung aus Tom's Diner, ist nach vier Jahren Abstinenz mit ihrem Longplayer Songs In Red And Gray wieder "back in buisness". Wie schafft es eigentlich eine eher kamerascheue amerikanische Sängerin, sich über zwei Dekaden in der schnelllebigen Glamour-Welt des Pop-Biz zu halten? Klar -- sie schreibt einfach unverwechselbar schöne Songs. Auch auf ihrem insgesamt sechsten Studioalbum Songs In Red And Gray kommt Ms. Vega ohne die großen musikalischen Posen aus. Ehrliche Gefühle statt überflüssiger Effekthascherei -- so das Patentrezept der smarten Suzanne. Und so singt sie in Songs wie "Machine Ballerina" oder "(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May" über die Liebe, das Leben und die kleinen, skurrilen Eigenheiten des Alltags. Einfühlsame Poesie verarbeitet zu wunderschönen Klangkollagen, mal poppig, mal folkig, aber immer irgendwie einzigartig. Ein dickes "Thank You" von Künstlerinnen wie Dido ist Suzanne Vega für ihre Vorreiterrolle als weibliche Songwriterin ja ohnehin schon lange sicher, aber auch der geneigte Pop-Hörer dürfte über eine derart gelungene Scheibe eigentlich entzückt sein.

Michael Dannhauer - Amazon.de



Suzanne Vega Readies New CD Songs in Red and Gray; National Tour Slated for Fall

Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega returns to the musical fold with the release of Songs In Red And Gray (A&M Records) on September 25, her first new studio disc since the much lauded Nine Objects of Desire in 1996.

Produced by Rupert Hine, the CD features 13 tracks that showcase Vega’s talents as a wordsmith and highlight her beautiful, passionate, emotive vocal style. Vega’s wistful artistry is apparent on every track from the lush, layered musical textures of the disc opener, "Penitent" to the edgy "Weapon," the witty "Solitaire" and the first single "Widow’s Walk."

In a review of her performance earlier this year at Knitting Factory Hollywood, where Vega previewed several of the new songs, Variety remarked: "[The] songs…paired a new emotional directness with her customary melodic elegance…Vega appears to have entered a new phase in her career, finding an exquisite balance between the mind and heart."

The new collection reflects Vega’s introspective outlook on life and parenthood. Vega, who took time off from the rigors of recording and touring to raise her six-year-old daughter, Ruby, is currently on tour in Europe and will begin a U.S. tour in mid-September.

Suzanne Vega is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. She emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980's and has, since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, performed sold out concerts all over the world.

Her album releases include Solitude Standing, (1987) that included the hit single "Luka," Days of Open Hand in 1990, 99.9F, which won a New York Music Award as Best Rock Album of 1992 and Nine Objects of Desire in 1996.

She has collaborated with Philip Glass, Joe Jackson, Arthur Baker, They Might Be Giants, and The Lemonheads. She has contributed her work to the Disney compilation, Stay Awake, the Grateful Dead tribute Deadicated, Pavarotti & Friends, the Leonard Cohen tribute, Tower of Song and to the soundtracks for the films "Dead Man Walking" and "The Truth About Cats and Dogs." In 1999 she released a book, The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega, published by pike/Avon Books. HarperCollins issued the book, a collection of lyrics, essays and poems, in paperback in May 2001. Vega served as a judge on the panel for the U.K.’s prestigious Orange Award for Fiction.

NewMediaMusic.com - Artist News July 31, 2001



Suzanne Vega returns with album, tour

Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has scheduled a tour around the Sept. 25 release of "Songs in Red and Gray," her first album since 1996's "Nine Objects of Desire."

Her tour kicks off on Sept. 14 in Naples, Fla., and concludes in Minnesota on Dec. 6.

The 13-song "Songs in Red and Gray" (Interscope), produced by Rupert Hine (Tina Turner, Thompson Twins, Rush), comes on the heels of her time off from recording and touring to raise her daughter, Ruby, now 6. The experiences of being a mother inspired Vega's new effort, according to a press release.

Vega emerged on the music scene in the early '80s, but she found mainstream success in 1987 with the album "Solitude Standing," which spawned the hit "Luka." Her 1990 record "Days of Open Hand" earned Vega a New York Music Award for Best Rock Album of 1992.

In 1999 she added "author" to her resume with the release of "The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega," published by Spike/Avon Books. HarperCollins issued the book, a collection of lyrics, essays and poems, in paperback in May.

Vega served as a judge on the panel for the United Kingdom's Orange Award for Fiction.

by Christina Fuoco
LiveDaily Contributing Writer



It's been five years since her last studio album and, with the passage of time, one-time folk waif Suzanne Vega has become a world-wise, world-class diva. After the technological experiments of 99.9° and the transitional Nine Objects of Desire, it might be an overstatement to assert that Vega has returned to her folk roots here, yet there's definitely a more organic vibe to Songs In Red and Gray. Acoustic guitar and Vega's subtly expansive vocal range drive the lightly orchestrated "Penitent," while mandolin underpins "Maggie May" -- not Rod Stewart's moldy oldie, but an answer song that turns on the knowing line, "I'll never be your Maggie May/The one you loved and left behind." Sure, Vega makes songs for the aged, (more kindly known as the "adult alternative" set) but with her experience she brings an understanding of melody and sentiment that her younger sisters in singer-songwriterdom simply aren't yet capable of matching. Forging on, may she serve as an inspiration to them all.

DENISE SULLIVAN - September 24, 2001
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com



Despite her lines about the "thickening of fear", her clattering sonic adventurism and her songs of abused children or sexually profligate women, Suzanne Vega's dismissal as a folk waif seems inevitable. Yet even at her most potentially folk-like - almost acoustic, almost solo, in front of a seated audience - she remains too smart to take her own bait. It's a non-tricksy formula. Vega, dressed in black and every inch the Manhattan sophisticate, plays a sparkling acoustic guitar and sings. Behind her, long-serving bassist Mike Visceglia plays a symphonic electric bass, save for the surreal moment when he sits on his stool and starts slapping his thighs. Visceglia is an ideal - and blissfully silent - foil, bobbing away semi-awkwardly and playing with such authority that Vega's darkness never yields to mush, save for the ever-beautiful Gypsy, which shows even mush has its moments.

Vega herself is in upbeat form, genially tolerant of the bawled requests while playing exactly what she pleases. She takes a lavish bow at the end of each song and, touchingly, apologises for playing previously unheard material from the forthcoming Songs in Red and Gray, her first album since 1996 and the first since her divorce. "This one's about playing solitaire," she notes of Solitaire. "Again and again . . ."

Harbor Song is a little too All About Eve (the band rather than the film), but Widow's Walk exudes malice ("It's not the man, but the marriage that's drowned"), and the defiant (I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May might even fluke her a hit. Her older material is gently remodelled. Vega puts down her guitar for Left of Center and claps out the rhythm herself, ensuring its stalking theme is a notch more unsettling. Luka, her tale of child abuse, is atypically clumsy on record. Here, Vega takes it as a lament and, 14 years on, it begins to bloom.

Tom's Diner, however, is a cunningly scripted celebration. The crowd are not overly blessed with rhythm, but Vega and Visceglia encourage them to sing the "der der der" chorus. She watches, half-amused, arms folded like the most mysterious of school teachers. He watches, desperately amused, like the most obvious of school cheerleaders. But when the lights dim, her voice gains a sepulchral echo, she sings of cathedrals and, even on her most jolly social observation piece, that darkness is never chased away.

John Aizlewood - Wednesday August 1, 2001
The Guardian
 

 L y r i c s


MACHINE BALLERINA

Am I an afternoon's pastime?
a thing on a string
to be thrown and retrieved
like a phone call received
on somebody's birthday
to tease and delight
and then say goodnight
and then just say goodbye?

Am I a toy on a tray ?
a soft piece of clay
queen or clown for the day
machine ballerina
soldier of tin
standing so loyal
while you sit so royal
then I'm put away?

Ch: For your approval,
perusal,
and your possible
refusal,
I'm amusing,
I'm a puppet for your play.

Am I your Mad Magazine?
skin trampoline
pin-up pinball machine
your fantasy girl
of puzzling parts
but none fits or starts
we match wits but not hearts
I'm heard but never seen?

Chorus again


HARBOR SONG

i dreamed you were a rich man
and that i had no place to go
i came to you to see if you would take me in
through golden curtains you told me you'd let me know.

well, you drink for ten and you smoke for twenty
and your fickle heart will never be true
but still i feel the wind in from the harbor
thats when i know the longing for you
when i know the old longing for you.

i saw you in my mind's eye
you were laid out on your final day
i stood in line to see that handsome face once more
it had been so dear to me, and i kissed you as you lay
you were so dear, i kissed you as you lay.

now, whenever i do travel
if to portugal, england, or spain
as i do walk by the shipyards and the harbors
i smell the salt, and the bay rum of your ghost again
i know the salt, and the bay rum, you beside me again.


(I'LL NEVER BE) YOUR MAGGIE MAY

1. i'll never be your Maggie May
the one you loved and left behind
the face you see in light of day
and then you cast away
that isn't me in that bed you'll find

2. 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

3. there's the way we 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?

4. Instrumental

And so you go
no girl could say no
to you

5. 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

6. 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
you still appear some kind of friend

And so you go
no girl could say no
to you


IF I WERE A WEAPON

oooh
if I were a weapon
you said I'd be a gun
lethal at close range i guess
with silencer and stun

but I feel more like a needle
always pulling on the thread
always making the same point again
and wondering if you heard what I just said

if you were a weapon
a hammer's what you'd be
blunt and heavy at the end
and coming down on me

but i've concealed a weapon
in a pocket knife attack
all folded up inside until you see the shine
and then you'll want it back

oooh
if I were a weapon
you said i'd be a gun
lethal at close range I guess
w silencer and stun

well, if I am that weapon
I am pointing now at you
so just put down the hostage and we'll
talk it down until we see this through


LAST YEAR'S TROUBLES

Last year's troubles are so old fashioned
the robber on the highway the pirate on the seas
maybe it's the clothing that's so entertaining
the earrings and swashbuckling blouses that please

here we have heroes of times that have passed now
but nobody these days has that kind of chin
over there the petticoats of ladies of virtue
you can hardly tell them from the petticoats of sin

last year's troubles

look at all the waifs of Dickensian England
why is it their suffering is more picturesque?
must be cause their rags are so very Victorian
the ones here at home just don't give it their best

last years troubles they shine up so pretty
they gleam with a luster they don't have today
here it's just dirty and violent and troubling
etc.

last year's troubles

but trouble is still trouble and evil still evil
sometimes we wonder; is there more now, or less?
if we had a tool or could tally the handfuls
measure for measure it's the same would be my guess


PENITENT

1. once I stood alone so proud
held myself above the crowd
now i am low on the ground.

from here i look around to see
what avenues belong to me
I can't tell what ive found.

*now what would You have me do
i ask you please?
I wait to hear.

2. the mother, and the matador,
the mystic, all 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?

3. 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.

4. 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
could i
obey?


PRISCILLA

1. she'd come to my house
and dance in the hall
with the music up loud
against the light on the wall

I danced beside her
feeling no shame
we were in costume
and this was a game

2. she'd put on her skirt
of layers of chiffon
the top of the umbrella had come off
so I put that on

we'd dance together then
an awkward ballet
she was 20 years older than I was
but still we did play

3. She was 20 years older than me
and many times my size
but it's her little feet I remember
and the look in her eyes

once when I saw her
she made me a doll
of ribbon and paper and ink
and lace, I recall

4. I danced beside her
feeling no shame
we were in costume
and this was a game

I think of her now I'm older
I still love to dance
something will shine through the body
if you give it a chance


SOAP AND WATER

Soap and water
take the day from my hand
scrub the salt from my stinging skin
slip me loose of this wedding band

Soap and water
hang my heart on the line
scour it down in a wind of sand
bleach it clean to a vinegar shine

Daddy's a dark riddle
Mama's a headful of bees
you are my little kite
carried away in the wayward breeze

Soap and water
wash the year from my life
straighten all that we trampled and tore
heal the cut we call husband and wife

Daddy's a dark riddle
Mama's a handful of thorns
you are my little kite
caught up again in the household storms

Daddy's a dark riddle
Mama's a headful of bees
you are my little kite
carried away in the wayward breeze


SOLITAIRE

1.
Black on the red and the red on the black.
It's a tic of a tired mind.
Come and sit down, won't you try your luck.
See if you unwind.

2.
Never use your threes and twos.
Follow superstition.
Otherwise you are going to lose.
Compulsion makes you listen.

Take what's wrong, and make it go right.
Weave it like a prayer.
Wonder if you you'll spend the night?
Playing solitaire?

3.
Do it again, when you find you're all done.
Like an idiot savant.
Shuffle up your luck. You see, you almost won.
Now wrestle down what you want.

4.
Jack on the Queen, and the ten on the Jack.
It's a happy repetition.
You and your fate in a kind of check-mate.
And you are your only competition.

Take what's wrong, and make it go right.
Weave it like a prayer.
Wonder if you you'll spend the night?
Playing solitaire?


SONG IN RED AND GREY

the reproach in your daughter's most beautiful face
made me wonder just how she could know
of that something that happened between you and me
so much more than a long time ago

her mother, I can see, lives within her still
cause she looked at me with her eyes
though I had only just met her right then
I feel that she peeled back my guilty disguise

did i break the thread, or did you break the thread?
well at this point we could ask who cares
as for the promises broken and frayed
it's 19 years late for repairs

the grey pewter vase held the deep red rose,
one piece of coral shone white,
by the brass candlestick near your red velvet coat,
is everything I can recall of one night

will you please tell me why I remember these things
after all of this time, I don't know
i must have left all those feelings inside
cause that year I had no courage to show

was i the name you could never pronounce?
or did i even figure at all?
all of this happened before she was born
did i shadow her young pencil marks on the wall

still i am sure i was only but one
of a number who darkened that door
of your home and your hearth and your family and wife
who'd been darkened so often before

oh, the red leaf looks to the hard gray stone
to each other, they know what they mean
somewhere, their future is still yet to come
in ways that are yet as of now unforeseen


ST. CLARE

call on that saint
and the candle that burns
keeping her safe
until her return

plaster and paint
holding the fire
a poor woman's saint
holding all man's desire

bold little bird
fly away home
could I but ride herd
on the wind and the foam

all of the souls
that curl by the fire
they never know
all man's desire

watercress clings
to the banks of the stream
in the first grip of spring
when the snow melts to green

barefoot and cold
and holding a lyre
by the side of the road
holding all man's desire

call on the saint
when the white candle burns
keeping her safe
until her return


IT MAKES ME WONDER

1. the virgin mary on a chain
has hit me in the mouth again
as we explore the carnal score
of sacred and profane

2. sulky boy won't drink his milk
mothers breast beneath the silk
remains untouched it's way too much
reject all of that ilk

ch;
i have to say it makes me wonder
if you are holding me
to the same blue flame that you are under
i feel you scolding me

3. your virgin mary's in the way
hallucinate her face by day
obscure the view in front of you
it's me here made of clay

4. you're playing near that line so thin,
austerity? or just give in
to endless appetite,
embrace that white oblivion?

ch;
and why so high the expectation?
who could live up to this?
well, there's no time now for explanation
cold as an angel's kiss

i have to say it makes me wonder
if you were holding me
to that cold blue flame that you are under
when you were holding me


WIDOW'S WALK

1.
Consider me a widow, boys
and I will tell you why.
It's not the man, but it's the marriage
that was drowned.

So I walk the walk
and wait with watchful eye out to the sky,
Looking for a kind of vessel
I have never found.

2.
Though I saw it splinter
I keep looking out to sea,
Like a dog with little sense,
I keep returning,

To the very area where
I did see the thing go down
as if there's something at the site
I should be learning.

Ch:
That line is the horizon.
We watch the wind and set the sail,
but save ourselves when all omens
point to fail.

3.
If I tell the truth
then I will have to tell you this
Though I grieve (and I believe
i feel it truly)

but I knew that ship was empty
by the time it hit the rocks,
we could not hold on
when fate became unruly.

4.
So consider me a widow, boys,
and I have told you why.
Does the weather say
a better day is nearing?

I'll set my house in order now
and wait upon the Will
It's clear that I need
better skill in steering...

Ch:
That line is the horizon.
We watch the wind and set the sail,
But save ourselves when all omens
point to fail.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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