Suzanne Vega is probably most well-known for the DNA-headed dance remix of "Tom's Diner." What most listener's don't know is that the song was originally performed a capella on Solitude Standing, followed several tracks later by an instrumental reprise on acoustic guitar. The album's other well-known track is "Luka," a top five hit which features stream-of-consciousness lyrics from the point of view of an abused woman attempting to, but scared to, reach out to a neighbor she bumps into in the apartment elevator.
My avorite song on Solitude Standing, Vega's most well-known album, is "Ironbound / Fancy Poultry," a song which seems like it takes place in a foreign land, but could just as easily take place here. It reminds me of the handmaids going on shopping trips in Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale. Shopping for chicken, the narrator is really shopping for meat, or women viewed as pieces of meat. "Fancy poultry parts sold here: breasts and thighs and ... hearts" she chants repeatedly. The monotony is haunting. "Night Vision" and "In the Eye" are other strong tracks off the album. If looking for something beyond Solitude Standing, Nine Objects of Desire is an album almost equally as good; it deserved to fare better commercially, though the market isn't always fair to what isn't young and new.
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