Can you believe that I have been liking this Suzanne Vega’s song since it was released in 1987, and it is only today, 29 years later, that I realize what it is talking about?
To my defence, though, English is not my first language and when a song is not written in French, I will not really grasp its full meaning unless I pay a particular attention to it.
Which, apparently I hardly do!
It is such a beautiful song that just hearing the melody again this Sunday afternoon was enough for me to feel better.
I don’t know what it is with Sundays; it is just not a day like the other days. I used to hate Sundays, when I was younger, the whole boredom of it being too much for me!
And it is strange, this feeling I have on this particular day of the week, because I usually like being alone, not doing anything in particular, except writing, or reading or watching TV.
But on Sundays, my regular activities will just not seem enough again, and I will feel a particular emptiness, that I will never experience on a Saturday for example, even if my schedule is no different!
Sunday used to be a day where all my questions about the meaning of life will gain more acuity: Who are we? Where are we coming from? Where are we going? And I will feel kind of desperate.
Nowadays, since I got married and gave birth actually, there is no more despair, just a slight melancholy.
Perhaps I should go to Church on Sundays like everybody does here to fill energized and peaceful at the same time.
I did not go to Church though, but as I was hearing Suzanne Vega’s song, Luka, I was thinking about God. I was thinking that I was grateful that music was given to us, and love, and empathy.
One of my sister’s favourite quote is one from Nietzsche: “without music, life would be a mistake”
I think this is so true. As I was listening to Suzanne Vega’s song, I was feeling a connection to her and to my fellow human beings and finally understanding the lyrics for the first time, I felt the need to drop a few words here for those who are going through domestic abuse at this very moment.
For you who have been raped, for you who have been abused by a loved one perhaps, for you who have been neglected, left alone, stripped of your dignity,
Those thoughts are for you. Even if you are not reading me, I know you will hear me somehow:
You are not alone.
I am here with you.
I love you.
We are all here with you. We all love you.
May you find the courage to break the cycle of violence, to break free and accept our embrace.
Glory Matthews'blog 