Suzanne Vega: The 1987 “Solitude Standing” Interview (Audio)
On Songwriting, “Luka,” and Her Circular Acoustic Guitar Style
Taped on July 23, 1987, the interview you’re about to hear was originally done for Guitar Player magazine. Three months earlier Suzanne’s breakthrough Solitude Standing album had come out, and at the time we spoke her hit single “Luka” was #3 on the U.S. record charts.
We focused our conversation on Suzanne’s approaches to songwriting and playing guitar. With their striking images, Suzanne’s songs at the time often seemed to poeticize dark journeys of the heart, exploring themes like alienation, an abused child masking his fate, an affair reflected in a picture on the wall. On these early recordings she balanced her soothing, gentle voice with an intriguing and unique acoustic guitar style that she describes in our interview as “circular.”
I hope you enjoy this conversation.
Quotes from this interview appeared in my Suzanne Vega feature story in the October 1987 issue of Guitar Player. Suzanne’s Solitude Standing went on to become her most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album, selling over a million copies in the U.S. alone. She has released many fine albums since then.
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