Vega, Suzanne - The Queen & The Soldier Lyrics






The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more."
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.

He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why."

Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head
She asked him there to sit down.

He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, "I've swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled."
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.

"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield."
And he took her to the window to see.

And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
And she wanted more than she ever could say
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand
Your highness, your ways are very strange."

But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
She would only be a moment inside.

Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on





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Vega, Suzanne The Queen & The Soldier Comments
  1. S.... B....

    Love this song. She performed it live at Barnard while I was still an undergrad there. Absolutely fantastic. What a great writer as well.

  2. P.... S....

    Sounds like Dylan! This song makes me want to burst into tears.

  3. H.... C....

    because I did it, 2

  4. H.... C....

    this is just a song depicting how a person with psychological avoidant attachment could be...afraid to love to be loved; the safe house is in the queen's own solitary cage...to kill the soldier is to strangle the thin flammable tinder that would somehow be ignited if she ever did....

  5. t.... ....

    So the soldier is getting the best head

  6. D.... ....

    Absolute class!

  7. a.... d....

    Damn, I was hoping for a happy ending. What a song.

  8. D.... G....

    who played the piano in this song?

  9. P.... S....

    luv it..!!

  10. S.... R....

    How come so many morons don't like the song? It still makes me crying years after

  11. s.... b....

    How.long I've loved this song and still in 2019......romantic and brutal..devastating ..

  12. T.... A....

    All are perished by war!

  13. j.... r....

    one of the best anti-war songs EVER!!

  14. A.... S....

    my mum sings this to me

  15. C.... u....

    i felt I had to comment. I'm a fanatical musical lover of all types of music from Hardcore punk to classical. And I have to say this song is "unbelievably" good, and is in my top 3 songs of all time. The lyrics are simply stunning.

  16. d.... ....

    So if you ever meet the queen and she asks you to wait outside, run like fuck.

  17. H.... B....

    I was in the Marine Corps when this song came out. I use to listen to it all the time.
    The guys in my platoon thought I was crazy

  18. o.... h....

    השיר :the queen and the soldjer של : סוזן וגה ,מוקדש לכול הפוליטיקאים בעולם !

  19. V.... R....

    I used to sing this to my youngest.... She still asks me to.

  20. D.... R....

    Thank you for sharing this song. And well done with the lyrics.

  21. H.... M....

    This is a beautiful song. The Queen was a Narcissist who fell in love with the Soldier but couldn't deal with the way it made her feel!

  22. S.... A....

    Uma das mais bonita vozes do mundo da música.

  23. S.... A....

    The whole Song was Pointless since the Soldier Dies..

    But I listened to it anyway because of the the way it Captivated me to know what Happens...

  24. 9.... ....

    Who Dares Wins. Lmao.

  25. t.... b....

    It's very variable at which point i break up during that song.

  26. P.... O....

    A masterpiece on so many levels of human interaction.

    P.... O....

    The Queen is the establishment and the soldier is anyone throughout history who sees the brutal truth of the eternal lie we are subjected to and has the strength to expose it.

  27. A.... S....

    Only just discovering Suzanne Vega properly - how did I waste all the years?!

  28. D.... S....

    ❤️👍

  29. S.... G....

    This is my very favourite track....amazing story.... unpredictable!

  30. D.... R....

    Pride can be a dangerous thing. We're all Human and being vulnerable at times is part of the Human experience. Suzanne Vega at her best.

  31. E.... M....

    This whole album is amazing

    E.... M....

    Yes it is !!!

    E.... M....

    So's your face.

  32. A.... ....

    Innocence versus Power?
    I've always heard this song to be about 'Love versus Fear'
    The queen hides in her castle & has the soldier killed because the alternative (taking a chance & caring) is too risky/painful.

  33. K.... P....

    How had I never heard this song before (?!)
    Thank you (Derek of The Mindful Mix @) Mana’o Radio 91.7 Maui.
    Mahalo nui loa

  34. l.... f....

    That song is a masterpiece in all sense.

  35. S.... S....

    Thank You for posting the lyrics! Good Job! 👏

  36. M.... R....

    it more or less depicts who really killed john lennon.

  37. A.... ....

    I've met this queen. I was the soldier.

    A.... ....

    Maybe not the same one, but she did like poached eggs and... soldiers.!!! Glad that's over, I hope...

  38. H.... ....

    Brilliant , Outstanding as always Suzanne ,,,, well done

  39. H.... ....

    Fucking trash

  40. A.... F....

    This reminds me of the episode in series one of the TV series Victoria with Gemma Coleman .

  41. R.... A....

    The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
    He said, "I am not fighting for you any more"
    The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
    And slowly she let him inside.

    He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
    And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
    But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
    Only first I am asking you why."

    Down in the long narrow hall he was led
    Into her rooms with her tapestries red
    And she never once took the crown from her head
    She asked him there to sit down.

    He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
    But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
    And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
    And now will you tell me why?"

    Well the young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
    She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
    But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
    But she closed herself up like a fan.

    And she said, "I have swallowed a secret burning thread
    It cuts me inside, and often I've bled"
    He laid his hand then on top of her head
    And he bowed her down to the ground.

    Ooooooooh

    "Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
    As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
    But I won't march again on your battlefield"
    And he took her to the window to see.

    And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
    And she wanted more than she ever could say
    But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
    And would not look at his face again.

    And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
    To get all I deserve and to give all I can
    And to love a young woman who I don't understand
    Your highness, your ways are very strange."

    But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
    And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
    She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
    She would only be a moment inside.

    Out in the distance her order was heard
    And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
    And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred
    The battle continued on.

    Ooooooooh

    R.... A....

    *congratulations, you've just won a bag full of no fucks were given*
    *you are the most insignificant part of the universe*

  42. s.... ....

    Só eu vim pelo livro?

  43. F.... M....

    A poetry, a sad poetry in a dirty world !

  44. d.... ....

    the soldier commited high treason, he derserved his fate
    abandoning the kingdom in a time of war, disobeying orders, questioning the legimitate ruler: death

    d.... ....

    Calm down, edgelord.

  45. D.... H....

    good job

  46. D.... R....

    This song came into my mind the other day for no apparent reason, I've loved it since I heard Suzanne perform it in London back in the day; but now, as a Game of Thrones fan, I did think of the Queen as Daenerys Targaryen and the soldier Jorah Mormont and it kinda fits. Still a great song and would be interesting to see a video compilation of GOT with this as the background. Good job on the lyrics, one minor thing "he laid HIS hand" you have put "he laid is hand".

  47. M.... T....

    Cbeck out my Version... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncoCz7kICoI

  48. f.... ....

    This song makes me watch my cats very closely because of the Secret Burning Thread that Cuts Her Inside (her cat need surgery because of it). Everytime I see my cats playing with yarn I think of Suzanne. :)

  49. B.... W....

    She did not like being a queen any more than he liked being a soldier. Sad.

  50. G.... K....

    Love this song. Her bass player Mark is a pretty cool dude as well

  51. l.... ....

    I totally thought this song was about soldiers fighting endless wars for nothing :-(

    l.... ....

    the part about a secret burning thread is about her cat eating a thread and needing surgery because it cut up her intestines. not sure about the rest, heh, i just remember that part.

  52. 7.... ....

    The queen gives the order for the soldier to be killed.

    7.... ....

    by other soldiers.....mmmmmm

  53. a.... ....

    I search this song out every few years. Haunts the soul.

    a.... ....

    time to listen again, mate.

  54. P.... C....

    Just for Esther

  55. J.... M....

    Beautiful song and I love the simple lyric treatment. I finished a rock opera of my own years ago and have been struggling with finding a good way to present the lyrics. Do you mind if I borrow your technique?

  56. A.... H....

    my friends favorite song

  57. M.... S....

    My least favorite song on the album. Makes perfect sense that she wrote it though. The idyllic soldier questions his Queen who becomes a little girl for him. She was most powerful in the age where women had no power. She was other worldly until he sees through her. Queue up Knight Moves please.

  58. k.... ....

    Beautiful song baby....loved this one since i wax a teenager

    k.... ....

    You waxed a tennager?

    k.... ....

    Kevin Larson tennager?

  59. R.... B....

    wonderful ballad, an amazing story, magical atmosphere

  60. E.... B....

    Reminds me of the Condesce and the Signless. Anyone?

  61. M.... V....

    I remember my mom singing this song to me every night as a kid

  62. T.... ....

    I always thought this song was called Solitaire lol. Still a great song, but what's it about anyways?

    T.... ....

    +Tammie . Divorce. the queen is the wife, the soldier the husband. they loved each other but now they are tearing each other apart. one of the best songs ever written.

    T.... ....

    @mal gittoes oh ok thanks for telling me, I always wondered. 

  63. T.... G....

    So, the proove: justice is stronger than love. It'll always be. But I love this song, and I fell in love with Suzan when I heard it the first time. She is my queen. I'm still alive, 'cause we never met each other! :) Awesome song!

  64. S.... ....

    this is my personal MGTOW anthem !

  65. P.... P....

    I have a sister who s several years older than me. She was kind of a new wave girl, and in the Summer of 1986 she played this album constantly. Such a good album, so real and goes to the depths

  66. J.... J....

    Always loved this song, notice it has no chorus.

    J.... J....

    +Jimbo Jones never realised that

    J.... J....

    yep, it's a story.

    J.... J....

    the best songs have no chorus. it was construct merely designed to help aid the singers memory. the best songwriters tell stories like mini novelettes. Bob Dylan, Shane MacGowan, Leonard Cohen, R.E.M ...

  67. K.... P....

    I have always been taken with Suzanne Vega's amazing ability to paint vivid imager in my mind with her beautiful songs. Each one a story, told so intimately.

  68. T.... K....

    sounds like Queen Elizabeth the 1st to me who killed her lover cause he wanted to tell her how to reign the country.

    T.... K....

    I'd kill mine for peeing around the toilet, so, fair enough.

  69. V.... F....

    the battle continued on.

  70. V.... F....

    I'm that queen....don't ask why!!!

    V.... F....

    I've been that soldier

    V.... F....

    Queen here too

  71. L.... G....

    I used to sing this song to my son, both when I was pregnant and when he was a baby. A few weeks ago, he was sick and we were almost losing our minds because he was sleepy but the pain wouldn't let him sleep. So, I took him in my arms, put his head against my chest and sang him "the queen and the soldier". He calmed down and was sleeping in no time. My almost 5yo didn't forget this song and neither did I. <3

    L.... G....

    Thank you, redpanda! :)

    L.... G....

    a mothers love is so very strong

    L.... G....

    beautifull

    L.... G....

    @ree roo yes, it is. :) And 9 years after, here I am again, singing along for my baby girl who is due on July. I wonder if she'll like it as much as her brother...
    All the best! :)

    L.... G....

    @Filipa Guimarães thank you! ❤️

  72. M.... T....

    Definitely my favourite song of SV. A song about Innocence vs Power, and why Power can't sustain any interest on Innocence, and must destroy, yet crying,  every bit of humanity in individuals. Very thorough fable.

  73. e.... ....

    A test???  Well you passed the test.  Great job of a great song.  Thank you for sharing with us.       Phil

  74. m.... b....

    Great song ! Suzanne is like a french Troubadour -  the Midde Age storytellers. Brillant as always

    m.... b....

    marco brenni não entendi nada

  75. s.... ....

    Wow. To see the lyrics white on black like films before "talkies," with subtitles . Glossy graphic novels. It just made anything that could be misconstrued as trite or one upon a time-y desaturate and chane form in to high contrast truths. Sing me a tale of royalty and battlefields, Suzanne? And I'll silenty read the words tat make me hear it in a brand new all 5 senses steeped stellium of what I need to experience. Thanks! Pepper McGowan

  76. c.... ....

    all cards on the table!

  77. L.... S....

    :( This song is so sad... :( I think I might do this for a cover on my channel though... It's such a beautiful song... PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS PART TWO????!!!!????

    L.... S....

    there is no part 2.

  78. M.... d....

    If I were king of the world, I would give Suzanne Vega a lifetime weekly paycheck for gifting humanity with these lyrics.

  79. c.... ....

    Don't listen this music or enchantress Suzanne will ut a spell on you,and you will be lost forever.She did this to me...

  80. b.... ....

    amazing, wonderful sung.
    Suzanne Vega is a great composer.
    Thank you very much.
    greetings from Holland.

  81. L.... K....

    Wonderful song, wonderful lyrics thank you a most wonderful gift !

  82. n.... Y....

    The song and the ear

  83. R.... C....

    So she had him whacked huh?

    R.... C....

    No need to verbalize the obvious.

    R.... C....

    He's not verbalizing it, he's writing it.

  84. M.... J....

    I'd forgotten about this one thank you

  85. O.... W....

    Just saying, this is what happens when you propose to royalty... =D bad ideas my friends

  86. o.... k....

    genie!!!

  87. f.... ....

    I cannot believe that i have been looking for toms diner ( literally just found the name of the song) and I found the artist almost a year ago (again evidently) -_- i don't know wheather to be supremely happy, or annoyed with myself

  88. R.... W....

    BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK NOT?

  89. L.... G....

    Georgia, you are quite correct. I've loved this song for a long time; it's so troubling, sad and , though amazing, depressing.

  90. H.... ....

    You sir, just blew my mind!

  91. R.... P....

    "Love is a Battlefield," etc...

  92. R.... P....

    The song works on both levels and tells both stories. It can be interpreted/understood either way. That is part of it's genius.

  93. A.... A....

    best random click of my life :)

  94. I.... �....

    Very beautiful!

  95. K.... F....

    NO GUYS YOU ARE ALL WRONG. It's about gender relations and power. He wants her to bow to him because he desires her even though he doesn't understand her, he feels like he deserves her and that she must feel weak and 'hungry' bc she rules alone. She kills him rather than give in to whatever she feels for him bc she doesn't want to give up the power and authority she has. She's ashamed of her interest in him bc to him, any relationship between them would mean she'd have to submit.

    K.... F....

    This is one person's really interesting interpretation: 'This clearly is a song about a young ,repressed virgin queen who expresses her internal battle with her own desires through needless battles by her solders. She allows the solder to come in to her room " but never once took the crown from her head."- she both allows him to approach intimacy, but keeps the barrier of her her power, her crown, between. She is very young and doesn't understand her own sexuality. Even menstruation perplexes her. "it cuts me inside and often I've bled." It's she and not the solder who doesn't understand "and may as well not try." all she knows is that she "wanted more than she ever could say," she doesn't understand her desires. 
    Obviously confused, she momentarily let's the solder overpower her -"he bowed her down to the ground." The falling of. the crown brings her back to reality and the need to control her desires. So she "closed herself up like a fan." 
    Scared by the momentary loss of control, she flees the room and chooses to have the soldier killed rather than confront the feelings he brings out in her. And so " the (internal) battle continued on.' https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/suzanne-vega/the-queen-and-the-soldier

    K.... F....

    Totally agree with u on this xx

  96. p.... j....

    I think its symbolic in it's meaning-an analogy of love, relationships and solitude!

  97. A.... ....

    She must be singing about the Queen of England in her younger days. Apparently she despises her "subjects". She once did cry when they took her royal yacht away from her. Now that says it all.

  98. G.... M....

    A masterpiece that will stay with us for years to come.....unbelievably beautiful....

  99. c.... ....

    it marked the end of my marriage... and yes it makes me feel sad