Awesome Song Lyrics: Suzanne Vega Edition

I just got back from a relaxing, lovely, sun-, sea-, and beach-filled vacation on Cape Cod. It's been hard getting back into the routine of everyday life in our land-locked, middle-class, suburban town, and my mind has been wandering back to Cape Cod. But I've also been thinking about other wonderful summer vacations--some from the recent past, some from many, many years ago.

I took this photo in 1988 of the
beautiful white cliffs of Dover.

One of my fondest summer vacation memories was a trip my family took to England in the summer of 1988. Because my mother was born and raised in England and most of her family still lived there, we visited England every few years throughout my childhood. They were always great trips, but this particular vacation in 1988 was different. It came after I'd been away at college for a year. My universe was expanding and, as a result, I was finally mature enough to fully appreciate the rich history and pristine beauty England had to offer. (And after being away from my family for a year, I could actually stand them for once.)

We spent about a month driving all around the country: London, Bristol, Dover, Hampshire, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Wells, and Devon, just to name a few. And while the cathedrals, castle ruins, and historic monuments were certainly magnificent, it was the countryside I loved the most. I sat in the backseat of our rental car, listening to my Walkman and watching the thatched cottages, tapestried farmlands, fluffy white sheep, and blooming wildflowers from the window.

We drove down narrow country roads where the hedgerows scraped our car on both sides and bounced along lanes that suddenly went from light to dark as we entered tunnels formed by the curved branches of tall, ancient trees. It was magical. It was hundreds of years after Henry VIII had beheaded his wives, yet the countryside still felt medieval and primal. I half expected to see a hobbit or perhaps a rabbit wearing a waistcoat emerge from the hedgerows at any moment.

My soundtrack to this vacation was Suzanne Vega's self-titled first album, which had come out in 1985, but I'd only discovered after "Luka" (from 1987's Solitude Standing) became a massive hit. I thought Solitude Standing was okay, but the first album absolutely killed me. And it was perfect for England. We'd visit castle ruins and learn about the royals who ruled there and the battles that were fought, then I'd cue up Ms. Vega's "The Queen and the Soldier" and the castle and its inhabitants would come alive in my mind:

The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door.

He said, "I am not fighting for you any more." 

The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before

And slowly she let him inside.

He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill

And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill.

But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will

Only first I am asking you why."

Down the long narrow hall he was led

Into her rooms with her tapestries red

And she never once took the crown from her head

She asked him there to sit down.

He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young,

But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won

And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun,

And now will you tell me why?"

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye.

She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try."

But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry

But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, "I've swallowed a secret burning thread,

It cuts me inside, and often I've bled."

He laid his hand then on top of her head

And he bowed her down to the ground.

"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel

As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed.

But I won't march again on your battlefield."

And he took her to the window to see.

And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray

And she wanted more than she ever could say.

But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away

And would not look at his face again.

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man

To get all I deserve and to give all I can

And to love a young woman who I don't understand.

Your highness, your ways are very strange."

But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break

And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached.

She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait,

She would only be a moment inside.

Out in the distance her order was heard

And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word

And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred

The battle continued on. 

Here is Suzanne Vega performing the song: