Retrospective es un álbum de Suzanne Vega, publicado en 2003. El disco incluye 21 canciones, entre ellas «Luka», «Tom's Diner», «Marlene On The Wall» y «Caramel».
Listado de Canciones
- Luka
Letra
My name is Luka I live on the second floor I live upstairs from you Yes I think you've seen me before If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble. some kind of fight Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was I think it's because I'm clumsy I try not to talk too loud Maybe it's because I'm crazy I try not to act too proud They only hit until you cry After that you don't ask why You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore Yes I think I'm okay I walked into the door again Well, if you ask that's what I'll say And it's not your business anyway I guess I'd like to be alone With nothing broken, nothing thrown Just don't ask me how I am [X3] My name is Luka I live on the second floor I live upstairs from you Yes I think you've seen me before If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was And they only hit until you cry After that, you don't ask why You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore - Tom's Diner
- Marlene On The Wall
Letra
Even if I am in love with you All this to say, what's it to you? Observe the blood, the rose tattoo Of the fingerprints on me from you Other evidence has shown That you and I are still alone We skirt around the danger zone And don't talk about it later Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall I walk to your house in the afternoon By the butcher's shop with the sawdust strewn "Don't give away the goods too soon" Is what she might have told me And I tried so hard to resist When you held me in your handsome fist And reminded me of the night we kissed And of why I should be leaving Marlene watched from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall Marlene watched from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall And even if I am in love with you All this to say, what's it to you? Observe the blood, the rose tattoo Of the fingerprints on me from you Other evidence has shown That you and I are still alone We skirt around the danger zone And don't talk about it later And I tried so hard to resist When you held me in your handsome fist And reminded me of the night we kissed And of why I should be leaving Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every man who's been here But the only one here now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Changing, changing, changing, changing Marlene watched from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall - Caramel
Letra
It won't do to dream of caramel, to think of cinnamon and long for you. It won't do to stir a deep desire, to fan a hidden fire that can never burn true. I know your name, I know your skin, I know the way these things begin; But I don't know how I would live with myself, what I'd forgive of myself if you don't go. So goodbye, sweet appetite, no single bite could satisfy... I know your name, I know your skin, I know the way these things begin; But I don't know what I would give of myself, how I would live with myself if you don't go. It won't do to dream of caramel, to think of cinnamon and long for you. - 99.9 F
- Tired Of Sleeping
Letra
Oh Mom, the dreams are not so bad It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin And I just can't hear what he's saying Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the kids are playing in pennies They're up to their knees in money And the dirt of the churchyard steps Oh Mom, that man he ripped out his lining He tore out a piece of his body To show us his "clean quilted heart" Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the bird on the string is hanging Her bones are twisting and dancing She's fighting for her small life Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping - Small Blue Thing
Letra
Today I am A small blue thing Like a marble Or an eye With my knees against my mouth I am perfectly round I am watching you I am cold against your skin You are perfectly reflected I am lost inside your pocket I am lost against Your fingers I am falling down the stairs I am skipping on the sidewalk I am thrown against the sky I am raining down in pieces I am scattering like light Scattering like light Scattering like light Today I am A small blue thing Made of china Made of glass I am cool and smooth and curious I never blink I am turning in your hand Turning in your hand Small blue thing - Blood Makes Noise
Letra
I'd like to help you doctor Yes I really really would But the din in my head It's too much and it's no good I'm standing in a windy tunnel Shouting through the roar And I'd like to give the information You're asking for But blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear Blood makes noise And I can't really hear you In the thickening of fear I think that you might want to know The details and the facts But there's something in my blood Denies the memory of the acts So just forget it Doc. I think it's really Cool that you're concerned But we'll have to try again After the silence has returned Cause blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear Blood makes noise And I can't really hear you In the thickening of fear Blood makes noise... - Left Of Center
- (I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May
- In Liverpool
Letra
In Liverpool On Sunday No traffic On the avenue The light is pale and thin Like you No sound, down In this part of town Except for the boy in the belfry He's crazy, he's throwing himself Down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church For the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something Or someone that he knows he can't Have now and if he isn't I certainly am Homesick for a clock That told the same time sometimes you made no sense to me if you lie on the ground in somebody's arms you'll probably swallow some of their history And the boy in the belfry He's crazy, he's throwing himself Down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church For the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something Or someone that he knows he can't Have now and if he isn't I certainly am I'll be the girl who sings for my supper You'll be the monk whose forehead is high He'll be the man who's already working Spreading a memory all through the sky In Liverpool On Sunday No reason to even remember you now Except for the boy in the belfry He's crazy, he's throwing himself Down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church For the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something Or someone that he knows he can't Have now and if he isn't I certainly am In Liverpool [X2] - Gypsy
Letra
You come from far away With pictures in your eyes Of coffeeshops and morning streets In the blue and silent sunrise But night is the cathedral Where we recognized the sign We strangers know each other now As part of the whole design Oh, hold me like a baby That will not fall asleep Curl me up inside you And let me hear you through the heat You are the jester of this courtyard With a smile like a girl's Distracted by the women With the dimples and the curls By the pretty and the mischievous By the timid and the blessed By the blowing skirts of ladies Who promise to gather you to their breast Oh, hold me like a baby... 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 Oh, hold me like a baby... With a long and slender body And the sweetest softest hands And we'll blow away forever soon And go on to different lands And please do not ever look for me But with me you will stay And you will hear yourself in song Blowing by one day Oh, hold me like a baby... - Book Of Dreams
Letra
In my book of dreams [X3] I took your urgent whisper Stole the arc of a white wing Rode like foam on the river of pity Turned its tide to strength Healed the hole that ripped in living In my book of dreams [X3] The spine is bound to last a life Tough enough to take the pounding Pages made of days of open hand In my book of dreams [X3] Number every page in silver Underline in magic marker Take the name of every prisoner Yours is there my word of honor I took your urgent whisper Stole the arc of a white wing Rode like foam on the river of pity Healed the hole that ripped in living In my book of dreams [X3] - No Cheap Thrill
Letra
Ante up. And don't be shy. Who is that man who is catching my eye? What's underneath all of the deadpan face? Sitting so pretty with a criminal grace? Lamebrain Pete wants to Spit in the Sea. He's got a cool hand but it isn't for me. Butcher Boy thinks he'll be splitting the pot. But I've seen what he's got and it isn't a lot. (When deuces are wild you can follow the queen. I'd go too except I know where she's been.) I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you But it's no cheap thrill It will cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay. I limit the straddles, and you shuffle and deal. When will the dealer reveal how he feels? Is the lucky beginner just a five-card stud? Is this winning streak going to be nipped in the bud? I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you But it's no cheap thrill It will cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay. I'll match you, I'll bet you, I'll play you, But it's no cheap thrill It will cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay. - Calypso
Letra
My name is Calypso And I have lived alone I live on an island And I waken to the dawn A long time ago I watched him struggle with the sea I knew that he was drowning And I brought him into me Now today Come morning light He sails away After one last night I let him go. My name is Calypso My garden overflows Thick and wild and hidden Is the sweetness there that grows My hair it blows long As I sing into the wind My name is Calypso And I have lived alone I live on an island I tell of nights Where I could taste the salt on his skin Salt of the waves And of tears And though he,pulled away I kept him here for years I let him go My name is Calypso I have let him go In the dawn he sails away To be gone forever more And the waves will take him in again But he'll know their ways now I will stand upon the shore With a clean heart And my song in the wind The sand will sting my feet And the sky will burn It's a lonely time ahead I do not ask him to return I let him go I let him go - World Before Columbus
Letra
If your love were taken from me Every color would be black and white It would be as flat as the world before Columbus That's the day that I lose half my sight If your life were taken from me All the trees would freeze in this cold ground It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus Sail to the edge and I'd be there looking down Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they never will have you And they'll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare If your love were taken from me Every light that's bright would soon go dim It would be as dark as the world before Columbus Down the waterfall and I'd swim over the brim Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they will never have you And they'll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare - Solitude Standing
Letra
Solitude stands by the window She turns her head as I walk in the room I can see by her eyes she's been waiting Standing in the slant of the late afternoon And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower with a flame Solitude stands in the doorway And I'm struck once again by her black silhouette By her long cool stare and her silence I suddenly remember each time we've met And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower with a flame And she says "I've come to set a twisted thing straight" And she says "I've come to lighten this dark heart" And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear And I say "I've never thought of finding you here" I turn to the crowd as they're watching They're sitting all together in the dark in the warm I wanted to be in there among them I see how their eyes are gathered into one And then she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower with a flame And she says "I've come to set a twisted thing straight" And she says"l've come to lighten this dark heart" And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear And I say "I've never thought of finding you here" Solitude stands in the doorway And I'm struck once again by her black silhouette By her long cool stare and her silence I suddenly remember each time we've met And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower with a flame - Penitent
Letra
Once I stood alone so proud held myself above the crowd now i am low on the ground. From here i look around to see what avenues belong to me I can't tell what ive found. Now what would You have me do i ask you please? I wait to hear. The mother, and the matador, the mystic, all were here before, like me, to stare You down. You appear without a face, disappear, but leave your trace, i feel your unseen frown. Now what would you have me do I ask you please? i wait to hear your voice, the word, you say. i wait to see your sign would i obey? I look for you in heathered moor, the desert, and the ocean floor how low does one heart go. looking for your fingerprints i find them in coincidence, and make my faith to grow. Forgive me all my blindnesses my weakness and unkindnesses as yet unbending still. struggling so hard to see my fist against eternity and will you break my will? Now what would you have me do i ask you please? i wait to hear your voice, the word you say i wait to see your sign could i obey? - Rosemary
- The Queen And The Soldier
- Woman On The Tier