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Suzanne Vega: The Best of Suzanne Vega - Tried and True

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: A&M Records
Released: 1998.09.28
Time:
 59:28
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Steve Addabbo, Lenny Kaye
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.suzannevega.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 1998.11.05
Price in €: 13,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Luka (Suzanne Vega) - 3:52
[2] Tom's Diner [DNA remix] (Suzanne Vega) - 3:49
[3] Marlene On The Wall (Suzanne Vega) - 3:40
[4] Caramel (Suzanne Vega) - 2:53
[5] 99.9F (Suzanne Vega) - 3:15
[6] Small Blue Thing (Suzanne Vega) - 3:54
[7] Blood Makes Noise (Suzanne Vega) - 2:28
[8] Left Of Center (Steve Addabbo/Suzanne Vega) - 3:35
[9] In Liverpool (Suzanne Vega) - 4:41
[10] Gypsy (Suzanne Vega) - 4:04
[11] Book Of Dreams (Anton Sanko/Suzanne Vega) - 3:22
[12] No Cheap Thrill (Suzanne Vega) - 3:09
[13] World Before Columbus (Suzanne Vega) - 3:26
[14] When Heroes Go Down (Suzanne Vega) - 1:54
[15] The Queen And The Soldier (Suzanne Vega) - 4:48

Bonus Tracks (New Songs):
[16] Book & A Cover (Suzanne Vega) - 3:49
[17] Rosemary (Suzanne Vega) - 2:43

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


SUZANNE VEGA - Vocals, Acoustic & Riff Guitars, Producer

PETE THOMAS - Drums, Percussion
JERRY MAROTTA - Drums, Percussion
BRUCE THOMAS - Bass
SEBASTIAN STEINBERG - Bass
STEVE DONNELLY - Electric Guitars
TCHAD BLAKE - Electric Guitars
DON BYRON - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
DAVE DOUGLASS - Trumpets, Muted trumpets
JANE SCARPANTONI - Cellos
CECILIA SPARACIO - flutes
MITCHELL FROOM - Keyboards, Horn Arrangement

JOE JACKSON - Piano on [8]

STEVE ADDABBO - Producer
ANTON SANKO - Producer
LENNY KAYE - Producer
MITCHELL FROOM - Producer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


CD 1998.09.28 UK A&M
CD 1998.09.28 EU A&M 540 945-2
CD 1998.09.23 JP A&M POCM-1263
CD 1998.10.12 AU A&M (Polygram) 540 945-2
CD 1998 CA A&M 31454 0945 2
CD 1998 TW A&M (Universal) 5409452 (promo, paper pack, 10 page booklet in Chinese)
CD 1998 MY A&M 540 945-2 (gold CD)

Greatest Hits Collection not Available In Usa. Contains Two New Songs.



This excellent overview of Vega's career contains all the hits and a fair sampling from each of her five albums, though Days of Open Hand receives a cold shoulder (only "Book of Dreams" represents it here), being a critical and personal failure. The CD as a whole shows that while Vega has stayed fairly consistent as a songwriter, her growth has been marked in the collaborations with various producers, from the spare, simplistic sound stages of Steve Addabbo and Lenny Kaye to the lush metallurgy of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake. The collection also features that bane of fans, the exclusive track, necessitating purchasing the CD when one owns all the other material. However, these two new songs — "Book & a Cover" and "Rosemary" — are quality entries in Vega's songbook, and once again feature the production skills of Froom and Blake.

Ted Mills, All-Music Guide



Suzanne Vega may well be the Michelle Shocked for people with mortgages, but she's also one of the pioneers when it comes to that maligned women-in-rock movement, that great branding innovation which has saved the bacon of so many labels in recent years. As the original of the species, Vega certainly shone and this compilation allows the listener to appreciate her direction and sway. It also allows the listener to confirm prejudices about her lyrical flaws and weakness for maudlin melodies, but that's another story. Most will know Vega from such early minor hits as "Luka" and "Tom's Diner", the tracks that established her reputation in the late Eighties. But delve deeper and you'll find tunes like "Left Of Center" (from that so-bad-it's-good movie Pretty In Pink) and "World Before Columbus" which are just as searing and insightful. While Vega's later work such as her new single "Book & A Cover" hint at resurgence (certainly, her collaborations with Ron Sexsmith and Mitchell Froom are spot on), there's also a feeling that she's coasting. She's no Alanis Morissette and for that we are very grateful, but she had the potential for all that and more.

Jim Carroll - © 2001 rondomondo



Suzanne Vega is among the most significant female musicians for the nineties. Having recorded five excellent albums she deserved a Best Of… album. Besides, we see so many Best Of… being released every year and most of them are just garbage coming from artists that should be prohibited to play music! Suzanne is something like a descendant of Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones. Passionate, tender and sincere. She is the woman who always has something valuable to say. Whether she’s singing about her female feelings and the oppression or love and sex she can make you turn your head and watch her without arguing. This album is a collection of 15 already released songs and two brand new -Book & a Cover, and Rosemary. Here you can find those great hits -Luka, and Tom’s Diner (with DNA)-, the 99.9 F, and her collaboration with Joe Jackson on Left Of Center (Joe plays the piano). Here, you’ll find Book Of Dreams, and No Cheap Thrill. Here you will find Suzanne Vega, one of the greatest female songwriters of our times. As for the two new tunes, Book & a Cover is one of the best songs she ever wrote and Rosemary is the definite love ballad written from a lady. Tried And True is the perfect opportunity for someone to learn what Suzanne Vega is. To us, she is the female Leonard Cohen of the nineties.

Yannis Florakis - Babylon.gr



A long overdue reminder of the versatility of the husky voiced singer-songwriter. Bittersweet ballads, Arthur Baker-produced grooves and delicately expressed sentiments sit side-by-side on a stunning compilation of favourites and special B-sides.

Virgin.Net



Dies sind noch nicht die Hits, mit denen sie sich im Pop einen Namen machen sollte - die kamen erst 1987 mit Solitude Standing -, doch Suzanne Vegas Erstlingsalbum, auf dem deutlich wird, daß ihre künstlerischen Wurzeln im Folk liegen, kann Song für Song immer noch als ihr bestes gelten. Produziert vom Patti-Smith-Gitarristen Lenny Kaye, paßt der sanft gezeichnete, verträumte Sound seiner Gitarre - gelegentlich ergänzt durch luftige Streichersätze - wunderbar zum träumerisch-selbstversunkenen "Queen and the Soldier" und zum surrealistischen Wortspiel von "Small Blue Thing". Vega bereitete mit ihren philosophischen, ruhigen, und dennoch selbstbewußten Stücken den Weg für eine ganze Generation von Liedermacherinnen wie Dar Williams und Shawn Colvin. Ihr Debütalbum hingegen gilt weiterhin als der unauffällige Grundstein für eines der besten Folk-Pop-Alben der 80er Jahre.

Roy Francis Kasten - Amazon.de



Das besondere am Sound von Suzanne Vega? Die fast völlige Abwesenheit tiefer Frequenzen ist es: als stakse die Musik auf Stelzen in den Wolken, höhenverliebt in kühle atmosphärische Schichten, dort, wo man klaren Kopf behält. Nicht umsonst fiel der Dance-Mix von "Tom's Diner" mit seinen massigen, geerdeten Beats derart aus dem Rhmen. 15 Klassiker der spröden Schönen aus New York gibt es auf "Tried And True": schlaue Betrachtungen über Leben und Lieben im "Big Apple" - plus zwei neue Songs gehobener Qualität ("Book & A Cover", "Rosemary"). ** M: 8-9

© Stereoplay



It's hard to imagine that large group of people who made Suzanne Vega, the folk-pop princess of the late '80s, such a big hit in the midst of the glam-metal and rap deluge. I mean, where are they now, those precious, poetically-inclined music listeners? Oh right, they're waiting to get the new Jewel record. Some credulous people no doubt believe that Suzanne Vega is somehow responsible for the apparently abberant '90s fascination with solo female artistes and their work... as if "Luka" had set some kind of precedence. I got two words for them: Joni Mitchell. Or as Joni would say, "Me! It was me! I was the first woman poet with a guitar, I started it all, I'm the original... me, me, me! I wrote 'Both Sides Now', dammit! Everybody else just rips me off... I get no respect... no respect at all!" Perhaps all too appropriately titled then, is this collection of 17 of Vega's best - well-mannered, articulate poems set to charmingly simple melodies, and delivered in Vega's almost inconceivably airy voice. Compared to the likes of Joni-come-latelies like Liz Phair, Ani Difranco and even Alanis, Vega now sounds just this side of ornamental. Pretty but also pretty inconsequential. The hip-hop beats of DNA's take on "Tom's Diner" (the image of Vega dancing in the video still makes me shudder), and the 'industrial' veneer of the songs from 99.9F are more arty experiment than musical direction, but on the whole, Vega's forte of plaintive folk-pop is well-represented on this collection. Listening to it, it's hard to mistake TRIED & TRUE (like Vega) for being anything but a footnote in the book of popular music history.

Gerald Tan, 1998 - gt.webvis.net



New York folkie Suzanne Vega is the kind of artist who usually flies below the cultural radar, keeping her fans happy but only occasionally catching the wider public's notice. Which means that this U.K. best-of, with its solid mixture of the old and the new, the popular and the obscure, is bound to surprise all but her most ardent admirers. In addition to Vega's singles, "Tried and True" collects killer album tracks, a pair of new tunes, and a couple of tracks that have never appeared on any of her "proper" albums. The only thing it doesn't have is a U.S. release date.

Although her debut came out in 1985, Vega first caught the public's attention with 1987's "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack tune "Left of Center." That one's on here, along with her radio breakthrough, the child-abuse snapshot "Luka." It's hard to believe, in the age of Lilith, that such songs seemed so different when they came out. But amidst the late-80s diva-isms of Taylor Dayne and Exposé, her smartly observed lyrics and dynamic folk-rock arrangements seemed like a breath of fresh air.

The early years are further represented by the moody "Marlene on the Wall," the wide-eyed "Book of Dreams" and the contemplative "Small Blue Thing." Many of these early tracks were produced by Patti Smith associate Lenny Kaye, but it was UK producers DNA who brought Vega into the disco age with their 1990 remix of "Tom's Diner." Turning a sing-song a cappella into a shuffling, Soul II Soul-inspired dance track with hovering strings and punchy horns, the remix gave Vega her second taste of chart success and influenced the direction she would take on 1992's "99.9F°."

It was on that album that Vega first worked with offbeat producer Mitchell Froom, who would later become her husband. Froom and his engineer, Tchad Blake, created an edgy, beat-driven backdrop for Vega's most distinctive single yet, the creepy AIDS freakout "Blood Makes Noise." That song and the album's title track (both included here) announced Vega's willingness to embrace odd sounds and offbeat textures in the service of her songs. But this newfound ecclecticism left room for keyboard-fuelled romps like "When Heroes Go Down" and delicate ballads like "In Liverpool."

The selections from 1996's follow-up album, "Nine Objects of Desire," are equally offbeat, from the bossa nova come-on of "Caramel" to the playful pop of "No Cheap Thrill." New tracks "Rosemary" and "Book & a Cover" don't match those heights, but the odd percussion of the former and the honkey-tonk leanings of the latter suggest that Vega's not about to stop making smart, wide-ranging pop songs anchored by her distinctive voice and witty lyrics.

Brian J. Dillard - Armchair-DJ.com
 

 L y r i c s


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
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
Just don't ask me how I am


Tom's Diner

I am sitting
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner

I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee

And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue

He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in

"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter

To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella

And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos

I'm pretending
Not to see them
Instead
I pour the milk

I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor

Who had died
While he was drinking
It was no one
I had heard of

And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies

When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head

There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?

No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection

And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt

And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Is getting wet

Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening

To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...

And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...

I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train


MARLENE ON THE WALL

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 the 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

I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher shot with the sawdust strewn
"Don't give away the goods too soon"
Is waht she might have told me

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As the 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

Marlene on the wall


CARAMEL

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

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


99.9F

99.9 Fahrenheit degrees
Stable now, with rising possibilities
It could be normal but it isn't quite
Could make you want to stay awake at night

You seem to me
Like a man
0n the verge of burning
99.9 Fahrenheit degrees

Pale as a candle
And your face is hot
And if I touch you
I might get what you've got

You seem to me
Like a man
On the verge of running
99.9 Fahrenheit degrees

Something cool
Against the skin
Is what you could be
Something cool
Against the skin
Is what you
Could be needing

99.9 Fahrenheit degrees

You seem to me
Like a man
On the verge of burning
99.9 Fahrenheit degrees

Something cool
Against the skin
Is what you could be
Something cool
Against your skin
Is what you
Could be needing

99.9 Fahrenheit degrees
99.9 Fahrenheit degrees


SMALL BLUE THING

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


BLOOD MAKES NOISE

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...


LEFT OF CENTER

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center
Off of the strip

In the outskirts
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

If you want me
You can find me
Left of center
Off of the strip
In the outskirts
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
Wondering about you


IN LIVERPOOL

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


GYPSY

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...

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...

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...


BOOK OF DREAMS

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


NO CHEAP THRILL

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.


WORLD BEFORE COLUMBUS

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


WHEN HEROES GO DOWN

When heroes go down
They go down fast
So don't expect any time to
Equivocate the past

When heroes go down
They land in flame
So don't expect any slow and careful
Settling of blame

I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance
For last respects
You feel the disappointment

When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
You can't expect any kind of mercy
On the battlefield

I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance for last respects
You feel the disappointment

When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
Do you show any kind of mercy
On the battlefield?
When heroes go down
When heroes go down
When heroes go down


THE QUEEN AND THE SOLDIER

The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more"
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.

He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why."

Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head
She asked him there to sit down.

He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, "I've swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled"
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.

"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield"
And he took her to the window to see.

And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
And she wanted more than she ever could say
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand
Your highness, your ways are very strange."

But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
She would only be a moment inside.

Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
And while the queen went on strangeling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on


BOOK & A COVER

What's that they told you
about a book & a cover?
Don't judge so quickly,
Is it too much too remember?
'Cause pictures lie,
you know.
I'll show
it's so.
Just give it one thought.

What's that they taught you?
To revere a kind of beauty?
To paint on that pretty veneer
and try to hide whatever's dirty?
Well, faces lie.
You'll see
no sympathy.
Just give it one thought.

Come here and I will whisper true
about the things I know of you,
and you will recognize them,
always...

As near to you as breath and bone,
so dear to me, and yours alone,
and I will love you for them,
always...

What's that they tell you
about a book & a cover?
Don't judge so quickly.
They'll tell you one thing and then another.
But see what lies
within,
under the skin.
Just give it one thought.


ROSEMARY

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.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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