| Suzanne Vega – Marlene On The Wall Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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TRANSCRIPTS FROM CONCERTS AND/OR INTERVIEWS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4EmC4hyELg That song was written about 12 or 13 years ago. And it was written for the actress Marlene Dietrich. That's the Marlene that I'm talking about in that song. And the very first time that I ever saw Marlene Dietrich was one night when I was watching television. I was apartment sitting. In the east village. In New York City, which is where I'm from. [Cheers; sporadic applause from audience] Thank you. No need to applaud. Really. So, there I was and I turned on the TV set and it was one of these old sets - take a while to warm up. So I turned on...the knob. And you get the little tiny dot in the middle of the screen. And then I hear this voice saying...this man's voice saying, "You have led many men to death with your body." [Cheers, hooting from audience] That's what I said. I was like, "Awright!" [Audience laughter] [Laughs] Because I didn't see anything. You know, I didn't know who the guy was, who he was talking to...And for a split second I had this fantasy. What if...someone came to my door and said that to me. What would I say? And I thought that I would probably...apologise. [Audience laughter] [Laughs] I would probably be like, uh, "Oh, ah...Terribly sorry...uhm...Are you sure it was me? I might have been, you know, so-and-so down the hall." So I was curious to know what whoever he was talking to would say. And, of course, right then, the picture came on . There's Marlene Dietrich's beautiful face in close-up. And her answer, of course, which is the only proper and logical one is, "Give me a kiss." [Audience cheering] Awright! >>IMAGE CUTS AWAY FROM CONCERT BANTER TO INTERVIEW<< So right from that moment I was just hooked and, uh, I watched the rest of the movie and became a huige Marlene Dietrich fan. And that photograph is one that someone had given me back, uh...back in the days when I was hanging out at Folk City. Uhm...they gave it to me because they knew I was a fan of hers, and I framed it and had it on m...had it on my wall, ah....So, the song is written from the point of view of the photograph of Marlene Dietrich looking down into my bedroom at that point when I was in my early twenties. -------- >>From the set-up for Solitude Standing at Suzanne Vega's performance at the Royal Albert Hall, 1986<< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hnBlm-bpyQ This next song was inspired by...by, uh...by this evening which happened a long time ago. Which was, uh, few years ago where I knew that Marlene Dietrich was gonna be on television. And, uhm...and I...and I had never seen her. So I thought, 'Well, you know, I should really check this out.' So...I was there, right? In front of this TV set, which, uh, was an old set, and it took a whie for it for the picture to come on. So, I turned it on and I'm looking at this blank screen. And not only that, but I have forgotten what channel it was on. So I;m trying to figure out from what I'm hearing, which channel could be the right one. And I'm zipping around, you know, and suddenly I hear this man's voice say, "You have led many men to death with your body." He says. Which I thought was like a really, kind of a, an interesting and intriguing statement. And I wasn't really sure if I had gotten teh right channel but I really wanted to find out what in the world whoever he was talking to would say back. And I thought, you know, of all the things that I might say, you know if someone were to say this to me, And I thought, well, uh, you know....Knowing myself, I would probably feel somewhat, uh, embarassed, or...or apologetic. I would probably say, 'Gosh, you know, I'm really sorry. I'll try and make sure it never happens again.' Or, uh....And in the next minute, you know, Marlene Dietrich's face bursts onto the screen, and she doesn't look...apaologetic. Or embarassed. Or even concerned. She says, "Give me a kiss." Which, of course, is the perfect response. And, uh, one that I definitely would not have thought of. And so that's how, uh, Marlene On the Wall came to be written. |
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