Suzanne Vega – Flying With Angels interview

Speaking from her New York home, Suzanne Vega appears relaxed as she prepares for a deep-dive discussion with Classic Pop about her 10th studio album, Flying With Angels. True to her past work, it’s a stylish 10-track mosaic of song that weaves together elements of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, the energetic Bowery street punk movement surrounding CBGB and, perhaps most unexpectedly of all, the seductive smooth soul of a 70s downtown Manhattan discotheque. It is, in every sense, a quintessential New York record.

“Well, New York City is always there, at least I’m always here in it,” opens Suzanne. “It’s never far from my thoughts. I think what really affected the essence of this album are the Covid years, where we were all in our apartments and the city became a ghost town. There was this creepy feeling where nobody was around, except the rats and the ambulances. I think that’s the atmosphere that permeates this record.

“Even the closing track, Galway, offers a sort of romantic escape from it all. While the opening song, Speakers’ Corner, reflects this Covid landscape and that first Trump era. While I wouldn’t say the album is overtly political, it does cover many pressing issues from the last 10 years.”

Real Word Response

Since the release of her last studio LP, 2016’s Lover, Beloved: Songs From An Evening With Carson McCullers, the world has indeed experienced some truly traumatic events and the haunting Last Train From Mariupol, in particular, is perhaps the most poignant. Deliberating on the war in Ukraine, it highlights man’s capacity for self-destruction. “I generally don’t write about something unless I feel called to do so,” Vega reveals. “So pretty much all the songs on this album exemplify that, except maybe Lucinda, which was written as a response to reading Lucinda Williams’ biography.

“Last Train From Mariupol was a reaction to all these images that we were seeing on the news. Weirdly, I had already written the chord progression and the melody prior to the invasion. When I saw all these people fleeing Ukraine, I was shocked that we could just sit there watching it unfold in real time on television, with no way of preventing it from happening.

“I was very touched by the sound of the name of the city, Mariupol, and thought that it’s such a beautiful word. I wanted to write about this fictitious train that was leaving with everybody on it, including God. The line, ‘God himself was on the last train, frightened by all he was seeing,’ was an attempt to capture the absolute desperation.”

Soul-itude Standing

As outlined previously, Flying With Angels, is stylistically very diverse, but one song is quite unlike anything else Vega has ever recorded before, and will no doubt come as a surprise to many long-term fans.

“Yes, Love Thief is the big surprise of the record I think. Even to people who are used to me being diverse on all the albums,” smiles the singer. “I grew up listening to 70s soul music and when I was very young, we had Black and Puerto Rican babysitters that would come over and we would listen to Motown or this old soul music station on the radio. I’ve always really loved that kind of music.

“A reference I had for this one was Anderson .Paak, who is in Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars, and the artists I like are legends such as Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Bobby Womack – he has a song called Across 110th Street and I actually spent a number of years living on 109th Street, so that is special for me.

“The chorus popped into my head one day and I sent a recording to Gerry [Leonard, Suzanne’s celebrated guitarist and collaborator] saying, ‘I don’t know, but here, do something with this’. It’s a song about the ideology of love as opposed to the ideology of hatred. The premise of the song is that I’m a sort of Robin Hood of love and I’m gonna steal this love from you and then give it back. I’m really happy with it and have to credit [backing singer] Catherine Russell’s vocals on this one, she really sets that track on fire.”

Rat Pack

So, has Vega always harboured a desire to unleash her inner soul diva?

“It didn’t occur to me,” responds Suzanne, “although, when Tom’s Diner was a big success in 1990, I received a plaque from ASCAP saying it was one of the most played tracks on R&B radio. The remix was considered R&B and was played on all those stations around the world. So the thought must have been in the back of my mind that I could try this at some point.”

Offering something of a counterpoint to the smooth-sounding soul of Love Thief is the driving punk-rock of Rats. Released at the tail end of last year, complete with an inspired video from Martha Colburn, the single came as a shock to many fans who may have expected Vega to mark her return in a more sedate fashion. “Rats is great fun,” she reasons. “We came out of lockdown and entered the studio where we would just bang ideas around.

“I wanted this track to have the punky energy of bands such as the Ramones. I was a fan of the descending riff in Fontaines D.C.’s Televised Mind, so we grabbed that and then Gerry gave it a twist.”

Concerned fans worried that ‘Suzy Is A Headbanger’ now, will be relieved to hear that Flying With Angels is still littered with Vega’s trademark evocative folk-pop and lyrical romanticism. While she admits that she and Gerry are rehearsing Rats for their upcoming tour, she won’t be fully embracing her ‘Suzanne Ramone’ persona just yet.

“Usually it’s just me and Gerry, but we’ve added a cellist to the show this year,” Vega explains. “The ones that we’re doing live now are Rats, Speakers’ Corner, Flying With Angels and Chambermaid. Actually, Chambermaid was another surprise of the album, because it came flying out at the very end of the recording sessions.”

The Great Man’s Chambermaid

Cleverly echoing Bob Dylan’s iconic I Want You, from 1966’s Blonde On Blonde, Vega’s Chambermaid is destined to become a fan favourite. Classic Pop was keen to find out if it was penned as a kind of love letter to the bard of Greenwich Village.

“Well, let’s see,” laughs Suzanne. “I’ve always been a fan of Bob Dylan, ever since I was very young, and always studied his songwriting. I was at home doing a bit of housework and woke up one morning thinking, ‘I’m like Bob Dylan’s chambermaid… that’s a weird idea, let’s see where this takes me’.

“The stolen kiss I reference in the song came from a time when I opened for him in Norway. He was very open and friendly, smiling and laughing, as we chatted. It was shocking to me because he always has a suspicious look when you see him. As we were leaving the stage, he said to me, ‘I’d like to see you again,’ and I leaned over and gave him the tiniest little kiss on his cheek. I don’t think he was expecting that and my journal says, ‘he blinked but he didn’t flinch’. I don’t know how he felt about that kiss, but I can tell you that I haven’t seen him since that day. [laughs]. That stolen kiss was sort of on my conscience, so I put it in the song, because why not?”

And did he say, as the track’s sign-off suggests, “Don’t forget to write”?

“No, he didn’t say that,” admits Vega, “but that was in an actual dream I once had. I always try to leave room for a bit of dream logic. If you write songs that are just as they happen in life, then it’s more like journalism. You’ve got to leave a little crack in a song for the absurd, for the dream world to come in – that weird twist of the unexpected is what makes a song really special… that moment of fantasy or magic. You can’t always do that in life, but you can do it in a song.”

Passing Ships

Another number destined to become a firm favourite among fans is Galway. With shades of In Liverpool and Gypsy, the closing track on Flying With Angels also seems to complete a kind of love’s labour’s lost trilogy.

“Well, Gypsy and In Liverpool were about the same man and that was someone I actually did have a relationship with and we’re still friends today,” Suzanne says. “Galway is the true story of an acquaintance who was sort of courting me. He kept popping up in various places – in New York, upstate, a random hotel in California – and then vanished. If you believe in providence or fate, there was clearly something there, but I didn’t pick up on it because I married another man – that’s life.

“Now, as a woman of a certain age, I look back on my life and see that experience as a path I didn’t take. So, I put it in a different category to Gypsy and In Liverpool because it’s what might have been, not what happened. It reflects a certain potential at that moment in time. However, you can categorise it however you want, I’ll never tell you you’re wrong.

“While sequencing the album, we had all the edgy and weird stuff towards the very end. Initially Rats was going to be the last track, but I thought, ‘Boy, I don’t want to leave people with this dreadful punk-rock song about rats’, so decided to mix it up a bit. I thought Galway was the right one to end on because it’s kind of poignant and humorous.”

Historic Headliner

While talking about Suzanne’s upcoming live shows, Classic Pop wonders if we can expect to see her at any festivals this summer, before touching on her landmark headline performance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage back in 1989.

“No festivals this year,” the singer concedes. “It’s the first time in like 25 years I haven’t toured during the summer.

“As for that Glastonbury show, well the day itself was overshadowed by this bizarre death threat that my bass player had received. So, I had to play wearing a bulletproof vest… that wasn’t very festive [laughs]. It was all very weird and stressful, but ultimately it was a moment in time that I’m very proud of.

“The crowd hadn’t been told what was going on, but they were so warm towards us and seemed to stretch way off into the horizon. Yes it was an iconic moment, but it was also very intense.”

Since Vega’s historic performance at Glastonbury, a number of solo female artists including Sinéad O’Connor, Adele, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo, have gone on to headline the hallowed Pyramid Stage. While festivals slowly address an apparent inequality that exists within lineups, the likes of Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, Chappell Roan, Ariana Grande and the aforementioned Billie Eilish and Beyoncé, are leading the way in the charts.

So, is Suzanne heartened to see the tide appearing to shift within the music industry?

“Yeah, I think it’s great to see the tables turning,” she says with a smile. “It’s really awesome. In a funny way, because of the success these women are having and the fact that women like Joan Baez and Patti Smith are still going strong, it makes me feel like I still have a future and not just a past.”

Under Her Influence

Indeed, the music of Suzanne Vega continues to reverberate and influence. Earlier this year, K-pop girl group IVE released Attitude, a track that samples Tom’s Diner to great effect.

“Yes I saw that,” exclaims a delighted Vega. “It was super cool. I like hip-hop in general and thought it was really cute. We still get all kinds of requests, almost monthly, to use Tom’s Diner for various things. I love it and say yes to almost 95% of all requests. There have been some pretty hardcore rap songs that talk about life in the ghetto which have sampled Tom’s Diner. The only ones I say no to are those that want to use it in a pornographic way. There’s really no reason to use Tom’s Diner for that kind of thing… I mean, why would you even want to use that song for some porn anyway?

So, is it only Tom’s Diner that Suzanne has requests for?

“Generally, it’s Tom’s Diner or Luka, but there’s been the occasional cover of Caramel or In Liverpool – often translated into another language. I can’t wait to see if I get any covers of Love Thief. There are a few people I’d love to see take a bite out of that one.”

Does she have anyone in mind? “You know,” Vega ponders, “I wonder about Adele. I think that it would be fun if she wanted to try that one. She has spoken fondly of me from time to time, and I really appreciate that. I’d love to meet her.”

Book Of Dreams

As well as new music, it has been 40 years since, Suzanne Vega’s self-titled 1985 debut LP peaked at No.11 on the UK Albums Chart and laid the foundations for her spellbinding sophomore set, Solitude Standing. Featuring Marlene On The Wall and The Queen And The Soldier, Classic Pop was keen to find out if the singer would be celebrating its anniversary with live shows when she visits the UK this autumn.

“You know, that’s a really good idea,” she says. “I should mention this to Gerry. There’s plenty of time over the summer to think about adding more songs from the first album. I wouldn’t mind doing that, it would be great fun.

“That album is so meaningful to me. As a young woman, I was always working different jobs and that first record made it possible for me to truly be an artist and support myself through my career. I’ve always been very grateful for that. It’s a lifestyle I love, and I love touring. I’ve been able to live a life that makes me very happy.”

If Suzanne could revisit her younger self from 40 years ago, what advice would she give – and does she think she would listen? “I’d advise her to stick with it, keep going, and do what you love,” offers Suzanne. “In a sense, that’s exactly what I did tell her and, thankfully, she listened. [laughs].”

Before we say our goodbyes, Classic Pop quickly wonders if Suzanne might be planning more new music beyond Flying With Angels anytime soon.

“I’m not actively working on anything now, but I think we could probably manage to squeeze another album out in a couple of years. I have ideas and thoughts that are sparking and always keep a notebook.”

Order Flying With Angels here

Featured image credit: Ebru Yildiz

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