This test tries to analyze urban imagery in the songs and poems of Suzanne Vega, the New York singer/songwriter who is probably most famous for her 1987 Hit "Luka".
Unfortunately, the "song" has been kept out of seminars, classes, anthologies and literary discussion even up to now. It seems that it is not regarded as a legitimate form of art, that it is looked upon as a sing-along but not as something that is worth analyzing.
This ignorance is hard to understand since artists like Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed or Laurie Anderson have made a great impact on culture, not only Pop-culture. All these artists seem to be rooted in music as well as in literature and other forms of art. Cohen was one of the most famous Canadian authors even before he had published his first records. Lou Reed might be best known for his work with Andy Warhol. Laurie Anderson uses visual arts in her performances and used to dance with William S. Burroughs on stage.
Also Suzanne Vega seems to stand in a long literary tradition. As her main influences she named among others Sylvia Plath, Carson McCullers, D.H. Lawrence and T.S. Eliot ("I remember for me it was a great deal when I could finally understand what The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was all about"(1)). Vega's songs play with this tradition, they are inspired by Paul Eluard's poems (Night Vision) or refer to the Odyssey by Homer (Calypso). Even the artwork of her covers cites other artists and traditions. (Such as the Joseph Cornell-like boxes on Days of Open Hand).
But still the poems and songs of artists like Anderson or Vega are mostly ignored by literary discussion and even an established author like Leonard Cohen has problems to be included in the canon after being stigmatized with the label "pop music".
Perhaps this essay can show that lyrics, even though they have been published on records, should be taken seriously because they can offer a lot to a listener and reader with an open mind.

Because of the complexity of Vega's poems it will not be possible to discuss them in all their depth. This essay will only cover the subject of how the urban life is reflected in the lyrics. Some songs will be analyzed in greater detail, some songs will only be mentioned, because the imagery of the city is only a small part of them. Other important subjects like the search for identity or the medieval imagery in Suzanne's work will be neglected since they are worth writing separate essays about. Also the music will unfortunately only be analyzed in an exemplary and fragmantary way.

Due to copyright reasons there are no complete lyrics included. Only relevant lines are cited. For complete lyrics, discography and biography go to the award-winning www.vega.net.