Song
Tom’s Diner by Suzanne Vega
Back story
Suzanne Vega is a New York-based singer-songwriter whose plaintive vocals and folksy arrangements have made her a staple of the liberal arts college crowd for much of the 80’s and 90’s, her most prolific period. She is often compared to Leonard Cohen, as both use poetic metaphor and spoken-word phrasing to explore themes of love and loss.
Why this song
The recent funky live performance with the Roots (see below) re-sparked my interest in Tom’s Diner. When Suzanne Vega wrote the song in the early 80’s, she envisioned it for piano and voice, but since she didn’t play piano, she decided to sing unaccompanied. She opened concerts with the song to channel her energy and to encourage the audience to settle down, and claims it has never failed her. An interesting side note is that the original a cappella recording was used a reference track for those developing the MP3 file format. Apparently the warmth of her unprocessed voice was very difficult to preserve during MP3 compression, so the algorithm was fine-tuned until this song sounded acceptable. Thus Suzanne Vega is sometimes called “The Mother of the MP3.”
More info
Suzanne talks about the song
Wikipedia
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This is the web-only video recently recorded with the Roots for the Jimmy Fallon Show. That’s right, Suzanne Vega and the Roots! She was on the show to play an acoustic version of a song from her new record, and graciously agreed to perform this song with the Roots during a sound-check.
This is the original a cappella version. Also available on her Solitude Standing album.
Finally, this is the remixed version by DNA that made the song famous. Suzanne liked this remix (done without her permission) so much that she allowed it to be officially released by her label.
Buy it
Amazon
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010
Song
Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY) by Erykah Badu
Back story
In 2008, Erykah Badu released the first of a planned trilogy called New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War. It was mostly a hip-hop album, utilizing studio effects and a heavy political message, taking her music in a challenging direction. Many fans missed her easy-going grooves, but I thought it was among the most interesting releases of 2008. After a long delay, volume two is finally out this week, and has a much different sound. It’s mostly an R&B/Soul album, using live instruments and lyrics focusing on romance. This isn’t to say it’s entirely conventional. Though much of the record has a steady stream of mid-tempo grooves, there are occasional harps, Theremins, children’s choirs, and spacey vocals. The first single, Window Seat, is causing a bit of a stir, as the video features Erykah completely disrobing in downtown Dallas. She is an artist who expresses herself regardless of what she refers to as GROUPTHINK.
Why this song
Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY) is from Erykah’s latest release, New Amerykah Part Two: The Return of the Ankh. It’s built upon a minor 1981 R&B hit by Sylvia Striplin, You Can’t Turn Me Away. She adds a modern groove and instrumentation, layered harmonies, and draws out the vocal lines until they are way behind the beat, increasing the funkiness. The lyrics are not progressive by today’s standards, and it’s hard to tell if she’s singing it straight or as a parody of love and money. She also adds a bit of the 1995 Junior M.A.F.I.A./The Notorious B.I.G. song Get Money (which also samples Sylvia’s song). In any event, Erykah’s version is fresh and fun, and is destined to be a big summertime single.
More info
All Music
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Buy it
Amazon
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