lambchops's Full Review: Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega
Tom’s Diner is the kind of song that grows to be the bane of an artist’s existence. On one hand, it helped lead Suzanne Vega to her best selling album yet. On the other hand, it yielded an apparent hit in an unapproved remix which inappropriately tagged her as some variety of alt-dance chanteuse.
Vega is and always was a singer-songwriter less known but in the same vein as Tori Amos, Tracy Chapman, Sinead O’Connor, or Natalie Merchant. In fact, she was one of the first in a long line of similar female artists who turned down the amps, wept, and exposed their underbelly by the light of a single candle. Vega, raised in Spanish Harlem of New York City, was inspired to write music at a 1979 Lou Reed concert. With a little help, A&M was convinced to offer Vega a record deal which resulted in her self-titled 1985 debut. It produced modest sales in America (and very good ones in Britain) which gave her some additional leverage in her sophomore release.
1987’s Solitude Standing is widely acknowledged to be Vega’s crowning glory. It went to number 11 on the charts and eventually went platinum. However, it was single Luka that earned the singer-songwriter her biggest dose of attention. Vega wrote candidly about the heavy topic of child abuse in the unlikely pop hit. This was the song that first exposed me to her—oddly enough by way of stone-age Nickelodeon show Nick Rocks. At the time I thought it was sad and haunting and very, very true. Today the song is still incredibly sad and haunting but it is decidedly not factual. In any case, it’s sung with a great deal of honesty and was a fine enough way to be exposed to Vega.
Solitude Standing begins with the original version of Tom’s Diner. Remember folks, this is not the version you heard a few years later by dance due DNA. It is a stark and entirely a cappella track. It was a brave move for Vega focusing on nothing but her voice and lyrics. She doesn’t seem to intend anything profound with the track, rather it’s a simple and cold story of every day life without taking any creative liberties.
The songs that populate this album are varied and emotional. Peek for a moment at the liner notes and notice that some of these songs date back to the late 1970s. They did not fit thematically into Vega’s debut but on Solitude Standing they’ve found a home. The songs are always easy on the ears, sometimes brilliant, and sometimes forgettable but I still find it impossible to dismiss Solitude Standing. It would be easy to focus on Tom’s Diner and Luka but I want to make it clear that there is much more on this album to appreciate.
In the Eye once again showcases Vega’s deadpan performance. It’s one of the more upbeat offerings here, but still reads after the fact like a slow folk-rock-pop song. Title track Solitude Standing is an outstanding song. It’s energetic, dynamic, and direct. The guitars, drums, and synths are all aligned nicely and augment Vega without drowning out her wispy vocals. I’m nearly as impressed by songs Calypso and Gypsy and find myself returning to them nearly as often each time discovering something delicate and new. In fact, Gypsy combines acoustic guitars, gently flowing melodies, and lovely lyrics together into one of the most striking arrangements on this entire album. And those lyrics…well…see for yourself:
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
There are times when the melodrama gets to be too much. Night Vision, Language, and Wooden Horse all fail to connect with me. This isn’t to say they are bad songs; they just lack the honesty and conviction that Vega exhibits throughout her sophomore album. Solitude Standing wraps with a brief reprise of Tom’s Diner (still the original, not remixed version).
This is a lovely and understated album. If I have one critique it would be that Vega is much too dramatic. The fact is, though, that her voice works best with that kind of music but it could (and occasionally does) work against her. Solitude Standing may be her best album but she continues to make music. She has released four more studio albums over the last fifteen years. The best known of these is 99.9° F (1992) and the most recent of which is the well-received 2001’s Songs in Red and Grey. This is one album that should be any singer-songwriter collection.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Tom’s Diner
02. Luka
03. Ironbound/Fancy Poultry
04. In the Eye
05. Night Vision
06. Solitude Standing
07. Calypso
08. Language
09. Gypsy
10. Wooden Horse (Casper Hauser’s Song)
11. Tom’s Diner (Reprise)
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