Vega, Suzanne - Bad Wisdom Lyrics

In another life she would have been a best selling author but I'm glad she took to songwriting.

uwu wow look a song perfect for my meth mama yay 👊😎

This was the first of her albums I bought. Great record. Good song, playing, too.

'He's looked in my eyes and knows I'm not a child'

what a neat song for a five year old...

sorry, i swear to whatever God there is, this is how i felt...

What do you expect a 5 yr old to get out of it? Curious.

Its a song about alienation, about losing one's childhood in a flash of evil.....in this case, about rape of a young girl. But its generalized enough so that even a schmuck like myself can empathize with the sentiment. I guess that's what I like about her songs, she speaks her female spirit in a way I can understand. Anyway, I'm very glad I went to see her live show.

That's what I've got. I don't make friends with other people.

bad wisdom// cock it or walk it and its raining xxx

yikes that stabbing in the dark if yer a survivor

but yeah bad wisdom a collision of parody s tears xxx hugs and a new cafe mug thank u

I just picked up this CD in a thrift store because I have been searching for the song Blood Makes Noise for awhile now.Does anyone else notice stark similarity in the melody of this song to "The Wreck of the Edmunds Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot?  I think it is so much so that he should have been included in the credits.  I am still a fan of Suzanne, but really?

I don't hear it, this is more of a Carnival/circus sound than EFG.

My theme tune.

Wow staggered at some of the comments that some people don't understand the song, it's so basic and obvious. It's about a child that's had an encounter(s) with a pedophile, but her mother doesn't believe her, probably because it's her uncle or stepdad etc.. The lyrics couldn't be more crystal clear. And no it doesn't mean Suzanne was abused, she sings about different hardships people go through on this CD. Another song is about transgender people (As girls go) Luka is more about physical abusive parents where as this son is about sex abuse. Wooden Horse is about children who get kidnapped and locked up, or locked up by a relative.

howard stein would disagree

voynich548 You can interpret it that way if you want, but the song is about abuse. "Mother your eyes have song suddenly cold, and it wasn't what I was expecting" and "Just like a woman who walks in the street, I will pay for my life with my body" should confirm for you that the song is about sexual abuse.

Oh man. You totally miss the point.

C: What is the “bad wisdom?”

S: The bad wisdom is exactly the things we were talking about before. The bad wisdom is knowing something before you’re ready for it. It’s knowing something before it’s time. Before. It could be sexual knowledge. Seom kids take LSD too early.

C: Did you?

S: No. Bad wisdom is when you have too much too soon. You go beyond what you’re prepared to handle.

This song is much more complex than your interpretation. It's not one story, it's many stories about young people who experienced different things "too young to know too much too soon"

Another gem of SV ! Thanx for file ! ;-)

my favorite song next to blood makes noise. this album is awesome! i sure do miss the 90s. i have a whole collection of music that i loved back then. where the hell did the years go? 

WhereDidYrCollectionGo...SorryMyKeybordFckD

Amen
Luv and Peace.

Perhaps the bad wisdom isn't from your mother, but from rejecting her mother's wisdom.

+Deacon Parsons Actually the song is about sexual abuse of a child. The abuse goes unnoticed or rationalized, the victim becomes depressed and withdrawn (very common in cases of child abuse), and is ignored, dismissed and not believed by the very people who should protect them the most, which is shockingly common. In the first verse of the song, she describes a doctor who can clearly see the signs of abuse but won't ask or investigate, and when she finds the courage to tell her mother, expecting support and compassion, instead she is met with suspicion and accusations (likewise very common, especially when the abuser is the other parent or their partner).

+Deacon Parsons It's about sexual abuse of children not her mother. Except the mother doesn't believe her when she tells. That's what that bit is about.

if there were a sub-genre of modern music that spoke about childhood trauma, this song by far, captures best, the psycho-social and biomedical sequelae in a chilling, evocative and poetic manner

if there were a sub-genre of modern music that spoke about childhood trauma, this song by far, captures best, the psycho-social and biomedical sequelae in a chilling, evocative and poetic manner

Is your mother Fine?

She has done loads was going to say better but change that to palalatable...try "small blue thing" its magic.

"So were you aprostitute"????BAD WISDOM ARE YOU SPECIAL IN SOME WAY?????(RETARDED) no...probs not but authers can work third party ....wooo dont judge pal....THIS IS BRILIANT you get it or you dont so please move long no floor show here...move along nothing to see....breaks my heart....

So were you a prostitute? Did you get off of the street? If you were then I hope so. That is what this song is about. The last stanza makes that clear. She pays for her Bad Wisdom like a streetwalker with her body.

I may be mistaken but I believe that Suzanne Vega was also molested or abused (or knows someone who was on a very deep level) as she reveals in Luka. I believe that is how she knows that life. She not only survived but turned it around by telling her story.

Are you a child molester or a neglectful parent? because this song makes me feel like I'm not alone . Nothing bad at all , I am a survivor .

We got this in our English book as a listening exam xD

Why on earth are you typing like that? I was checking the first letters of each line and counting syllables to see if it was an acrostic or haiku or something.

Raw and real, and deeply empathic. Haunting and strangely otherworldly, perfectly in step with the tone of that little musical "era".

Good for you!!!

I hate
A song
That makes
A person
Feel Bad.
Or Guilty.
Or Sorrowful.

And yet here we are,

Balling.

This song is some true shit everyone can relate or at least I can Suzanne Vega rocks i love 99 farenhiet degrees!!!!

I suppose everyone gets a big bitter dose of bad wisdom in this life. Nice to hear a good song about it.

no man, some people are good and their children don't have to get wise til they're adults as it should be. I know.