Luka

The best and most catchy song about child abuse of all time. I really enjoy this song, but I don't enjoy what it's about.

I do believe that this song is about a little boy being abused, not a battered wife. The line "They only hit until you cry" means that more than one person is abusing the narrator. Of course she could be making a generalization about men or abusive people in general, but within the context of the song, I think that it sounds like it's a child talking about their situation.

Luka is Slavic (Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene...) male name. It's same as Luke!

Anyway it's a great song...sad but great!

Sad, sad song about a kid being physically abused. Maybe I'm fucked up because this is one of my favorite songs and I always go around singing it. But although it's sad, it's really, really catchy.

The part about the abuse is convincing. But I think the abused person is trying to hide it by making excuses- "I think it's because I'm clumsy" & "Yes I think I'm okay I walked into the door again". It may be someone she knows. The repetition in almost every verse suggests the desperation of it all. THAT is how much she's being abused!

I love this song. I remember watching an interview with her on her website http://www.suzannevega.com/index.htm where she talked about this. It's about a 8 or 9 year old little boy (I can't remember which age she said) being abused.

She also talked about a boy who lived upstairs from her in one of her old apartments named Luka who WASN'T abused. It obviously didn't bother him because she says he went back to her old apartment to get her former roommate to prove to a girl that Suzanne Vega had really lived there. Nice way to pick up chicks. XD

Whoever said this song isn't about a child is being abused...have you actually seen the video? It shows Luka wandering the streets and is too scared to go home at night. And he's the one who lives upstairs from her, not her husband?!

“There was abuse in my family,” said Vega. “I am actually Luka.”

From a 2021 interview https://www.njarts.net/suzanne-vega-takes-her-new-york-songs-and-stories-on-the-road/

Such a craftily written song, followed up by a clever story to conceal the truth that she couldn't reveal until many decades later.

Congratulations to BillieJoe2, the only person out of 41 comments (and many replies), to get this right.

1.) This song is about child abuse (physical).

2.) Luka is a MALE name, not female. Luka is also known as: Luke when translated into an "English" version of the name.

3.) If anyone on here bothered to do their research (which apparently many of you clearly haven't, based upon the grossly incorrect comments on here)... then you would know that Luka is a male. This song is NOT about a female, nor is it about spousal abuse.

I find it amazing how people so often twist the meanings of things, such as words, and even entire songs! Perhaps in this instance, this occurred because the song is sung by a soft-voiced woman, thus people automatically assume that the song is about a woman?

It's quite strange and disturbing how some people's minds work, and how presumptuous people can be.

The singer/songwriter, Suzanne Vega, stated in an interview that the song "Luka" is a fictional (fake, untrue, made up) song, based upon only the name of a real life little boy that she once knew in her younger days, named Luka. Suzanne recalled that Luka seemed a little different and somewhat awkward around the other children that he played with. She did not believe that the real life Luka was a victim of any kind of abuse, that he was just a socially awkward child.

In simplest form, the song "Luka" is about a little boy that is periodically abused/beaten by his caretakers. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is such a powerful song!

I can hear two narrators, and two different agendas; Luca, an abused child, is trying to cover up his parent/s abuse, and Suzanne Vegas is challenging anyone who ignores abuse, through Luca.

I get this impression because:

The structure of the song; it's addressed at the listener, Luca/Suzanne uses second person, you, so it's like they're talking to you. This makes me think that Suzanne is trying to make people think about the way they react to abuse, whereas Luca is just trying to cover up.

Also, Luca repeatedly asks the listener 'just don't ask', but this could be rephrased as don't just ask- and that's the message Suzanne is giving; don't just ask, do something.

Finally, Luca uses a lot of lame excuses and clichés to explain away his injuries- and Suzanne almost creates a black humour from this, to highlight that everyone knows what is really going on, but ignores it, or tries to cover it up.

It portrays how emotionally damaging physical abuse is; "They only hit until you cry, after that you dont ask why, you just don;'t argue anymore." Also the fact that the vistim learns to blame herself; " I think it's because I'm clumsy I try not to talk too loud Maybe it's because I'm crazy",trying to rationalize the abuse, but still blaming herself.