Vega, Suzanne - As Girls Go Lyrics

As a lifelong transvestite (now 77) I really appreciate this song. We're not all flamboyant drag queens and we're certainly not crazy. As a teenager I had no interest in sport and after the Aberfan Disaster I had no interest in gods and christs. And so I was a bit of an outsider. But I always envied girls and their pretty clothes. All a big secret though. A friend of mine got beaten up for wearing a chiffon scarf around his neck. "Die faggot" they yelled as they kicked him in the head. Things are better nowadays but still far from perfect.

sure the wording isnt the best. but it still comes from an amazing place though

Take a good look folks Susie is a boy not exactly natural but stunning none the less didn't you ever wonder did you ever guess

things have changed in 28 years...im betting she will never sing this in todays times...same with the cure...you wont hear killing an Arab either...love vega for 30 years now....

Fckin chopstix

This is one of my favorite lunatic songs (sorry Suzanne). Best guitar solo EVER at the end. Couldn't possibly be more perfect.

Suzanne Vega said:
"The person I was writing about [in "As Girls Go"] was not a drag queen. She was a girl, she was just this very fascinating woman, and she's utterly beautiful and there's this odd, I don't know what you'd call it, chemistry I guess, between us, because she was a waitress and I would come in and she would sort of flirt with me, which I remember feeling a little odd, especially after I found out she wasn't really a girl. Someone I knew had gone out with her and discovered that she was not a girl, but no one knew how far the whole thing had gone. But she was utterly charismatic and she was probably one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen, very graceful. But it wasn't like she was a drag queen, like the whole thing you think of a drag queen. She was a person who had turned into a very feminine being. And in fact on the last day she worked at the restaurant she told me that she was very confused and was going to go on a very long trip... and I just really felt for her."
Interview In the New York Press, Volume 12, Issue 21

I just saw Vega perform, and she retold this story in a shorter version.

Susan vaga is no dude ! She's a woman and has allways been a girl

I'm all about the hi-hat roll too

Richard Thompson on guitar = spectacular.

Brilliant song - and NOT on her best/retrospective?? Good grief, who picks these compilations - the accountants?

Speaking as an accountant,my advice is not to buy compilations/restrospectives/best of.
Buy the original CD/Album and listen to the package in which the artist intended it to be listened to.
Indeed a brilliant song.

Of course that's best -- I had Vega's vinyl LPs from the beginning.. but many non-fans will get just the best as an intro to an artist..

As an aside, Peter Gabriel remixed his classic Here Comes the Flood for his 'best' CD, and it was completely different and much better, never saw that before - I had all his LPs as well, so I had to download the remix of Flood from the net

I'm sure the record labels often put together the mix since "they" own the rights already

As a long time fan of Peter Gabriel as well as Suzanne Vega I must disagree.
Point a newcomer to the greatest hits if they are only the type of listeners who are graziers.
But if they are genuinely interest in music,and wish to expand their horizons,select a couple of the best albums to be listened to as the musicans intended them to be.

Amen lol

I didn't understand all the lyrics of 99.9F° when it came out but I immediatly loved that! ;-)

I read some review that panned the solo at the end.  They don't know what they're talking about.

I hear a lot of sarcastic contempt and an cleverly delivered insult to the Girly Men. LMAO

There is no frame of reference here, just slippery context and inertial want. And Richard Thompsons guitar is perfectly (in)congruent: Lurking harmonics and sinister, hissing inflections. Everywhere, nowhere wanting clarity but yielding to the Abyss. Alas, as girls go.

Stratus Phere Thanks for this comment, that's the magic of this song :)

Absolutely. I always thought that the end solo was thematically elegant, alluring. "sinister" is a simply great adjective.

Sinister is not something that has any place here

Slippery ambiguity, not sure of your frame of reference ....

Top notch!

That's the distinction isn't it. The line between genuinely feminine and effeminate. Turns out more MTFs have female brain structure, but its been pickled in testosterone. It takes time to ween of of male chemistry and replace it with female. The behavior that ensues isn't forced or a caricature of the real deal. It is the genuine article. Emotions are close to the surface, the need to relate, the intuition, even gentle nurturing develops.Women are women with or without a trans past.

See, this is what happens when knowledgeable people weigh in. Thank you ^^ and yes, cissexist character is not the same as cissexist writer and I'm at pains to tell people that on a regular basis.

Yeah been listening to it since the album came out and have never been sure myself. One thing I guess is that it's probably written from a character's perspective, like the rest of the album. I see this as presenting one kinda muddly view and doing at least that much pretty well.

@valeriereified I'm not sure it's as blatantly obvious as that. MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE WOMANNN, NUH NUH NUH, TRANSEXUAAAL. etc.

@SupernalOne *facepalms* Trans womyn pre transition are *NOT* effeminate men. They are womyn.

This is one of those songs that sounds less and less trans supportive each time I hear it... good melody though.

Great track. Very underrated album.

Thank you so much for posting this song. I love the lyrics and the music.