Suzanne Vega recently released her third thematic volume, States of Being. She follows two albums selected from her extensive catalogue, the first focusing on songs about love, the second on people and places. Thirty years after the singer-songwriter became a fixture on the Greenwich Village folk scene, she remains a master storyteller with the fresh, infectious delivery that made “Tom’s Diner” a classic.
He initially labeled States of Being “mental health” songs for the wide range of moods and emotions they address. Vega likes to write about real-life situations and is drawn to many that are difficult to put into words, such as the suicide of a close friend. The only new song in the collection is “The Instant of the Hour After”, inspired by a Carson McCullers story.
Vega appreciates Carson’s understanding of humanity and his humorous and playful way of bringing all of his characters to life, especially the children. The two characters in this story, a man and his wife who have been drinking all night, end up sharing their anger, love and pity. She asked Duncan Sheik, the composer of “Spring Awakening”, to set it to music because she admires her beautiful melodies and she is proud that they are both practicing Buddhists.
The Vega-Sheik collaboration goes beyond that single song. Vega loves McCullers’ story so much that she was inspired to write the book and lyrics for a play, “Carson McCullers Talks About Love.” Both she and Sheik are composing the music.
McCullers is one of Vega’s favorite writers. He swallows the poets TS Eliot, ee Cummings, Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson and admires the novelist Edith Horton for her poignant style. This week he is reading a biography of Leo Tolstoy.
As for lyricists, she was drawn to folk music by storytellers Bob Dylan, Cisco Houston, and her friend Woody Guthrie. In 1999 a volume of her own poems, lyrics, and essays by her was published, “The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega”.
Dedicated to a number of charities, including Amnesty International and the Save Darfur Coalition, Vega performed in Prague as Vaclav Havel’s guest for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
His 2007 release, “Beauty and Crime” won a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. As an expression of his deepest thoughts, he examined New York City and his feelings in the face of the tragedy of 9/11 and the loss of his brother.
“I’m always careful what I reveal,” Vega said. “I have a batch of private songs that are not for public distribution. But wherever I perform, I try to be entertaining. Anyone interested in poetry, metaphors, and storytelling, regardless of age, will be entertained.”