Suzanne Vega - The Queen And The Soldier (Live At Montreux 2004)

Suzanne Vega broke through with her eponymous debut album in 1985 in both Europe and America. The album featured the hits Marlene On The Wall and Left Of Center. She hit even greater heights with her second album Solitude Standing which contained the hits Luka and Tom's Diner. In many ways she opened the way for the rush of female singer-songwriters that followed in the late eighties and early nineties. She continues to have hit albums and to play to packed houses on both sides of the Atlantic.
This DVD captures Suzanne Vega making her second appearance at the Montreux Festival in 2004. Accompanied by a full band (her first appearance was as a duo) she plays many of her most popular tracks including 99.9ºF, Marlene On The Wall, When Heroes Go Down, Left Of Center, Solitude Standing, Blood Makes Noise, Luka and Tom's Diner.
The full DVD "Live at Montreux"
is available on Eagle Vision, out now.
2004 Montreux Sounds
Montreux Sounds: www.montreuxso...
Mercury Studios: www.mercurystu... (if applicable)
LIVE AT MONTREUX - MONTREUX JAZZ ARCHIVES
This performance is part of the unique Claude Nobs Foundation audio-visual collection, included since 2013 in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. From Aretha Franklin or Miles Davis to David Bowie or Prince, more than 5’000 concerts have been recorded LIVE both in audio and video since the creation of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967 by Claude Nobs.
MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL WHERE LEGENDS ARE BORN
The Montreux Jazz Festival takes place for two weeks every summer in Switzerland, drawing 250,000 music lovers to the shores of Lake Geneva. Since 1967, the Festival has celebrated all genres of music and generated countless legendary performances. Artists who have graced the stage of Montreux include Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Prince, Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, Kendrick Lamar, Leonard Cohen, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and many more.
Official Websites:
www.claudenobs...
www.montreuxso...
www.montreuxjaz...
#MJF
#montreuxsounds
#claudenobsfoundation
#montreuxdigitalproject
#MontreuxJazzFestival
#MontreuxJazz

[@Chrisinpommyland]

I bought the album back in 1985 when I was 15 and spent 6 months stoned listening to this!

[@stephenfusco3585]

If all I had ever done was write this song, that would be enough.

[@jacquicraigie7981]

Life's work

[@clarkstewart6561]

Yes. Said through tears

[@HBelfort]

Agreed.

[@ska4me]

I'm still sitting here with goosebumps 35 years and hundreds of listens after the first time I heard it. And yes, I got a bit weepy when she performed it the one time I was fortunate enough to see her live.

[@caseycrosby867]

Same

[@monsieurhercule]

One of The Great Tunes and poems of all time, on the level of Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

[@gandolph999]

Susanne Vega's voice on this song is flawless.

[@corvavw6447]

Vanaf het eerste moment tot vandaag ,bij het horen van haar stem en het verhaal dat zij brengt ❤. Een van de beste muzikant van de laatste 50 jaar🎉

[@jinjocat]

As a folkie, a bassist, and a lover of poetry, I absolutely adore this.

[@angelarnaudas]

Best comment of them all - well said Ian

[@grunchlk]

I am none of the above and I still love this song.

[@dalymc]

36 years after we first heard this lovely, haunting song on the 1st album- WE are here listening to it again in 2021! This live version is beautiful. x

[@TheUrfster]

There aren't many songs whose opening chords can send me a shiver. This is one of those beautiful exceptions. Beautiful, haunting, yearning lyrics. Pure poetry x

[@jeremybrown1626]

Definitely my favourite Suzanne Vega song, I used this song more than 30 years ago as English comprehension and discussion with foreign students, I loved it so much. I hope the students appreciated the genius behind the song.

[@leahghiradella3253]

I, too, used this beautiful song in the early 90s while teaching Developmental Reading at community college.

[@magdigunther-nyeso2871]

Interestingly, my English teacher from the UK in the 90s, also used this song as English comprehension. I fell in love with the song and still find it as one of the most beautiful and meaningful songs written.

[@tonyjohnson8752]

This is the song that made me want to learn how to play guitar. It only took me 30; years to learn it. I busk in Georgetown Texas. Come listen sometime.

[@majortom2688]

One of her best songs, if not the best. A fable about Innocence vs Might. Like some here, i still cry when hearing.

[@richardprescott6322]

So in love with her as teenager wanted to marry her. That first album was awesome but this song destroys me every time especially having served in military for 18 years - such a beautiful voice - love her still ❤

[@EmmelineDuchene]

When she played at La Cigale in Paris, the audience recognized the song and cheered at the very first note played on the guitar. One of my very favourite.

[@twoblackthorned]

Suzanne Vega is obviously an old soul, that refuses to quit and move on and just leave this earth to its limited devices. I would be lost without her like. Thank you honey, for your soft whisper of wind in an otherwise unrelenting environment that is our existence here. I'll work to repay your kindness always.

[@Dentistmentalust]

I adore this wonderful Lady! What a story teller!

[@Dentistmentalust]

There is only one other person on this planet who could have matched her lyrically and that is Sting. He could have written this song. Suzanne will always be One of the true musical greats!

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

Yeah, Sting's "The Dance Alone" comes to mind... 🥹

[@2ferdi7]

First new song I’ve heard since the 80’s. And she never fails.

[@angelarnaudas]

A haunting story, telling much more than the words say. That, my friends, is poetry.

[@TeresaLFDT]

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 in 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?" Well 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 have 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.

[@btizef2008]

I keep coming back to this song. 2024. Flawless performance.

[@edwinkirk1706]

I still remember seeing this at the time. Montreux and an almost endless line of crap-artists and then - a shy-looking NYC lady with a guitar that looked bigger than herself and... I've never looked back. First encounter with the music of the great Suzanne Vega.

[@christophersell3497]

As an old punk who is really not into folk I adore Suzanne Vega! She is her own genre

[@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab]

This is musical pure art in it's highest form. For me it's the favourite from a wonderful catalogue of greatness! It's sound, depth and message are unforgettable. A friend introduced me to the debut album. I bought it the very next day. Awesome. 👍🏻

[@SpaceCowboyToo]

This is an even more subtle, nuanced, lovely version of this song than the studio version I'm familiar with. This song is so much unlike, yet so much like, another of Suzanne's great songs, "Luka": Understated, creepy, powerful. This is a work of genius.

[@metermorphose]

🎼such an overhelming masterpeace of beautiful, dramatic lyrics, Suzannes phenomenal soft voice and absolutely touching music. She is an authentic, outstanding sympathic artist and woman❤️

[@joannetyrrell364]

Unbelievable. So good. My favourite. Classic storytelling

[@kamalabdul-karim4171]

What a classy singer/ writer, beautiful song, beautiful woman

[@KeithRowley418]

Always loved this song, this lady and musician and her music. Simply beautiful. Profound as the stars and deeper than the sea.

[@jamesedwards7844]

So true, ❤

[@darrens3052]

The most beautiful rendition of one her most beautiful songs, thank you Suzanne, I love you x

[@steveharris5008]

This is one of those songs where you can recall the exact place you first heard it. I was part of the team painting the interior of the Auckland, NZ first gay night club, this was in 1987. The radio was tuned into 'bfm' the Auckland uni station and thinking back now, it may even have been on a sunday because the station had great stuff broadcast on Sundays. I was probably working on my own, having a break from painting in the stairwell when this came on. Stopped me in an instant and started my love affair with Suzanne. I can still recall being mesmerised by the lyrics and voice and the vibration continues to this day...

[@makeda2799]

I wish the message gets old.Classic still relevant message.So gentle the voice so brutal the meaning...

[@mayakarpuz2335]

i new the lirics to this song at the age of 7 loved it then and love it now..... stil gived me goosebumps... 💖

[@timallbritton7329]

Just a great song and a great voice. Brings me back to when I bought the CD new.

[@mjdegrey4843]

I've loved her from the first time I heard her first album.

[@mickymcl8359]

My first time hearing this amazing song, the story telling of Suzanne brings it to life and I was in the room watching the interaction between the Queen and the Soldier and how sad it was at the end, if not predictable.

[@tappanzee3490]

gawwwwwd hearing this now reminds me of a college boyfriend who sang this for me and played the guitar all so amazingly all these years later finally realized he didnt break my heart.. broke my own damn heart

[@scottmillard3036]

Army buddy from California gave me this cassette in korea1988..love every song..still today..

[@goprodog4304]

I heard this song first exactly 30 years ago :) Smoke gets in my eyes...

[@gillesbourgeois5348]

her guitar sound is interesting, kind of medieval bouzouki or mandola...and the bass guitar is perfect. The voice is that of a mother voice singing to our baby's ears, that sweet and lighten voice of ever.

[@JohnMoran-mc2rh]

Couldn’t be better still makes me cry any more I’d be out of tears for sure xx

[@8DX]

singing this for myself it always feels pretty short. But the song has so much more to offer.

[@michaelscott1605]

used to listen to this returning from leave on my walkman in the 80s

[@eli73768]

Music at its very best. Suzanne Vega is just amazing. ♩♩♩

[@alexanderdalton6648]

Her music is getting more subtle I like this better than earlier versions. That is rare ofter older musicians are sad shadows of there younger selves.

[@kristelvanacker8975]

M'n grootste wens is dat mensen gaan beseffen waar dit systeem om draait , en dat de muziek in hun ogen simpelweg een dekmantel is ,

[@KatherineCunning]

❤

[@woodselpen]

I love the controlled emotion in her voice. Repressed but rippling through every note - Susan Vega, Florence Welch, Birdy... it's all about the control.

[@steveharris5008]

is that the book Birdy by Wharton...?

[@meowiahh]

@@steveharris5008 Birdy’s another singer, I liked Without A Word from her, she came out with it when she was very young but her singing had the emotive quality of an older soul

[@soenckebrase7892]

Einer ihrer schönsten Lieder..da kommen sehr schöne Gedanken wieder hoch..Love this Song

[@Inkkink]

As moved hearing it now as I was a kid.Brilliant.

[@grendelum]

Yeah, one morning freshman year of high school upon learning a massive English project was due that day (not the next week as I had thought), I totally just wrote this song down and handed it in. The worst part was the teacher trying to get my permission to publish it in the school paper... that was awkward. Did I learn anything? Not really...

[@schanche1965]

I love this song and Suzanne Vega.

[@paulwaring7215]

Always ❤

[@911truthfarmer]

Brilliant poem, and melody, and delivery, and message, and singer.

[@angelarnaudas]

... and bassist 🙂

[@markcoombs5992]

Simply beautiful…….a voice of pure gold….

[@nikodemus7900]

The Bass is just awesome!!

[@JohnMoran-mc2rh]

Obvs she was more gorgeous than I could ever say ❤

[@stevendurrant1724]

Still Astonishes me everytime I hear it.

[@patkelly8309]

Yes

[@robinbanks610]

Beautiful❤️☺️

[@jonfairway8235]

wow ... beautiful .. haunting

[@irpacynot]

Lovely

[@nattyjay77]

beautiful xx

[@DanDDirges]

WoW what a great song!

[@superstarpeekaboo]

This song is beautiful.

[@pagandude1]

Wow oh wow. This means so much to me and anyone who wonders where this fine musician went. A song that must resonate deeply within any true Vega fan...thanks so very much for shearing. May i please reccomend for fans a lady called Bjork without sounding all spammy? . Thanks..much warmth and love to all....

[@Boudicca-the-musical]

Her best song - out of many good ones!!!!!!!!

[@fellowcitizen]

I pair this song with All Along The Watchtower

[@akadia71]

Ah the metaphor for the great powers that be, the wars they fight, and the individuals who die for their greed.

[@klaaskomvaak1816]

voice of an angel

[@sderoski1]

I learned about a folk singer and song writer named Connie Converse today in a NY Times article and I listened to several songs, and in particular when I heard The Witch and the Wizard I immediately thought of this song, which I haven't listened to for a few years but first heard when Suzanne's debut album (produced by Lenny Kaye, guitarist for the Patti Smith Group) came out and Suzanne played in NY, and I was lucky enough to see her play and sing this song, but hearing it today I have to say I am startled by the Game of Thrones flavor of the story, or maybe I should say Throne of Dragons, and coincidentally I just watched it on DVD from the public library, I had to wait months for it on the waiting list, if you've seen it you know that a murderous Queen and a soldier figure prominently in the story

[@kirkrobb4194]

i so wish i could have played that with you, i spent over a week going over it on a 12 string, still love the song

[@joriah69]

Wonderfully amazingly cool, cheers

[@elmarbeau]

Artistas como esta cantante, No hay.

[@Spinny78]

50,000th like! I am privileged! :) Such a flippin' awesome song!

[@TheRunner75]

This is wonderful. Thank you for posting.

[@TheOriginalYitsan]

Perfect.

[@pinheiroclaudio]

terrific

[@rectify2003]

Thanks for posting this video.

[@donniemacco6905]

Her voice is so crisp its like she's singing through a filter

[@pyros411]

Wow........

[@PLATINFERN]

Those eyes.

[@philhardy18]

Her pickings so good here

[@willischmidt9479]

she is so beatiful!

[@ivanmillar7084]

Ella fascinante como siempre... Las imágenes son un asco....tomas De espada, tomas de la mano, ni siquiera los dedos... Las luces etc.. Un Espectáculo aparte el director o quien Sea.... Ella Diosa como siempre....

[@shire834]

セカンドアルバムが発売された頃、名古屋で彼女のライブを観てきたのが懐かしい^ - ^

[@treebs14]

Beautiful sad, poignant song

[@marymyers7334]

Yup!!

[@nadineabdeldayem]

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 in 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 strangely in the solitude she preferred The battle continued on

[@dechelettealice4273]

Plus je l écoute, Plus j apprécie, Plus je l aime... Et ceci depuis

[@skylaraskyfullofstarz9240]

endlezz tearz❤💋💋💋💋💋❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤I Have Alwayzzz Loved Your Beautiful Soul Goddezz

[@dxx7570]

Great song ! Great performance ! However, whoever suggested all the purple graphics is terrible it completely pulls complete focus from the Artist, the Words, the Music and Performance! On her additional KZbin songs if the vocals can be louder for some reason the engineering the instrumentals seem to overpower the vocals and the listeners can hardly hear the Great Words. It’s the voice!! and the words not so much the loudness of music… 💙 ✨✨✨🖋️🌞🌞🌞😁🐷🎨🖋️ 📣👀

[@lealaurent9040]

Schöner Song

[@gckelly68able]

Goes out tonight to whatever her name was ...wherever she is now ...

[@estelamattaraia]

Lovelyy !! *--* chora/

[@tonydevo7046]

genius

[@joeri0358]

JAY OWEN LUB

[@ginog710]

Joeri Brehler s/o naar joeri met de gekke shit

[@swallowsea889]

YOU CANNOT DELETE US ALL!

[@Boudicca-the-musical]

I first heard this song on Galei Tsahal - Israel Army Radio. How's that for irony?

[@DaveCrossUK]

Actually, "Left of Center" wasn't on Suzanne's debut album. It wasn't on any of her studio albums. It was on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack which was released between her first two albums.