La canción sobre la que hoy escribo tenia muchas ganas de que apareciera por aqui, y es que es especial porque he tenido la suerte de escucharla en directo, y no sólo eso; fue la canción que abrió el concierto de Suzanne Vega que tantos años esperé. Y más aún, fue la canción que primero me llamó la atención cuando me regalaron por primera vez un disco de Suzanne Vega.
No sé exactamente cuántos años hace que me regalaron este disco, pero hace años yo escuchaba mucho esta canción sin saber quien era esa Marlene a la que Suzanne se refería. Años más tarde leí en algún sitio que Suzanne había escrito la canción inspirándose en un póster de Marlene Dietrich que tenía en su habitación. De repente le puse cara a mi Marlene imaginaria de Marlene on the wall y la volví a escuchar como el primer dia y la canción adquirió un nuevo siginificado. Y ahora soy yo la que tiene una foto de Marlene en la pared...
Enlace del video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHZV7NOqEY4La letra:
Marlene On The WallEven if I am in love with you
All this to say, what's it to you?
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the fingerprints on me from you
Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later
Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As the records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing
But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall
I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher shot with the sawdust strewn
"Don't give away the goods too soon"
Is waht she might have told me
Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As the records the rise and fall
Of every man who's been here
But the only one here now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall
(Suzanne Vega)
El disco en el que aparece esta canción se llama Suzanne Vega, y además de esta canción también aparecen otras muy buenas como The Small Blue Thing o The Queen and the Soldier.
Os dejo también las palabras de Suzanne Vega sobre su admiración por Marlene Dietrich que, por lo que leo, creo que le surgió como a la mayoría de los que admiramos a Marlene: shock.
Suzanne on the title of the song:
"This song is called "Marlene on the Wall" and it was written for a poster of Marlene Dietrich that was on my wall at one time"
In concert: WDR2 Radio Session, Koln, Germany, February 28, 2002
"The idea of using a poster as a reference point is a very pop idea. It's a song about Marlene Dietrich. You kind of get that from it, or it's a song about a relationship. As opposed to "Today I am a small blue thing" in which some people think I'm speaking in code, or it's a riddle they have to break. It's more like "Let's pretend," like a kid's game. If you were a small blue thing, what would you be? Well, you'd be like a marble or an eye. It's pretty straight-forward."
Interview with Paul Zollo in Song Talk, Vol. 2, #16, Winter 1991, also published in "Language", 5:1 August 1992, (http://www.vega.net/songtal1.htm) trancription by Steve Zwanger
Suzanne explaing the motivation to write the song:
"It was written for the actress Marlene Dietrich. That's the Marlene that I am talking about in this song. And the very first time that I ever saw Marlene Dietrich was one night when I was watching television, I was in my apartment sitting in the East Village in New York City which is where I'm from. So there I was and I turned on the TV set. It was one of those old sets that take a while to warm up. So I turned on the knob and you get the little tiny dot in the middle of the screen. And I hear this man's voice saying, "You have lead many men to death with your body." I was like "Alright!". because I didn't see anything, you know, I didn't know who the guy was, who he was talking to. And for a split second I had this fantasy, what if someone came to my door and said that to me? What would I say? And I thought that I would probably apologize. I would probably be like "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, are you sure it was me? It might have been so-and-so down the hall." So, I was curious to know what who ever he was talking to would say. Of course right then the picture came on and there's Marlene Dietrich's beautiful face in close-up. And her answer, of course, which is the only proper and logical one "Give me a kiss". So right from that moment I was just hooked. I watched the rest of the movie. I became a huge Marlene Dietrich fan. The photograph on the wall I'm singing about in the song, is one that someone had given me, back in the days when I was hanging out at Folk City. They gave it to me because they knew that I was a fan of her's. I had it framed and had it on my wall. The song is written from the point of view of the photograph of Marlene Dietrich looking down into my bedroom at that point when I was in my early twenties."
In concert: El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, CA, USA, November 20, 1996 (http://www.vega.net/elreytr96.htm) transcription by William C. Andrews
Suzanne on the character of Marlene Dietrich:
"I loved Marlene Dietrich for her image. Just her image. And that cruel streak which I find attractive. Then I read biographies and feel sad. Along with her cruel streak there's all this other stuff that I wish I didn't know." ….kindness to me is only powerful if it has the cruel streak behind it. If someone is kind all the time under all circumstances, they're just simple-minded. Kindness is only worth something if you have the cruel streak to back it up."
Salon.com interview, by David Nowman, February 17, 1999
Suzanne on the song:
"Well, it's accessible and people do like it, but for me, personally, inside myself, I feel I had something in mind, and I kind of did it, it was stylish, it was interesting, but I didn't feel it was quite the bulls-eye that some of the others were. The idea of using a poster as a reference point is a very pop idea. It's a song about Marlene Dietrich. You kind of get that from it, or it's a song about a relationship. "
Interview with Paul Zollo in Song Talk, Vol. 2, #17, Spring 1992, also published in "Language", 5:1 August 1992, (http://www.vega.net/songtal2.htm) trancription by Steve Zwanger