Vega Adventures
I had an absolutely brilliant time on Saturday in Birmingham, meeting up with Suzanne Vega to talk about music!Suzanne is the first artist I’ve interviewed about songs written about 9-11 that have really meant something to me. Her songs Anniversary and Angels Doorway are both very personal songs for her, being a New Yorker and having relatives directly affected by the events of 9-11.
I’d first heard Anniversary in 2007 at a show in Coventry. I had no idea of Suzanne’s connection with 9-11 and when she introduced the song it felt a bit like I’d been ambushed by my memories. It’s a beautiful song speaking about the memories that hang around each corner and each street. . Written a year after 9-11 at the end of what had been a harrowing year for Vega where she’d seen her brother Tim who had been working at the Twin Towers die 8 months later, it is a haunting song written about the strange winds that seem to speak to you down on ground zero.
Angels Doorway is written about a relative called Angel who was a New York cop and one of the first on the scene. His wife would say the smell of 9-11 hung around for months. Leave it at the door, don’t bring it in is the message of the song.
Suzanne is the type of person who thinks very hard about things and you know that when she says something it’s been well thought through and is very genuine. I was a little nervous with her at first but we were soon talking easily and I was really impressed at how she opened up to talk.
A beautiful and deep person that I’m so glad to have met. I look forward to the next time.
