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Suzanne Vega on Life, "Luka", her Recently Released Film LOVER, BELOVED, and More

Episode 526: Suzanne Vega on Life, "Luka", her Recently Released Film LOVER, BELOVED, and More

Singer, songwriter, filmmaker and actor Suzanne Vega

Show notes

Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has written and recorded numerous songs that have become part of the contemporary music vernacular, including “Luka,” “Marlene on the Wall” and “Tom’s Diner,” an a cappella piece that was remixed by U.K. electronic dance duo DNA and became a major club hit. It remains an oft-sampled and covered standard by artists across the musical spectrum. Her albums, including her self-titled debut, follow-up Solitude Standing and 99.9F have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her most recent album, 2025’s Flying With Angels, is out now on Cooking Vinyl to critical acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Forbes and more.

Suzanne and I talk about her life, music, and her recently released LOVER, BELOVED, the critically acclaimed film adaptation of her acclaimed one-woman stage show about the life of the great 20th-century American writer Carson McCullers. And she shares the heartbreaking backstory of her iconic and haunting 1987 hit "Luka", sung through the voice of an abused little boy, but which she revealed in 2021 was actually about her own childhood trauma.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
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Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega

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