Songs in Red and Gray is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was released on September 25, 2001 by A&M Records.
Music and lyrics
On Songs in Red and Gray, Vega returns to her signature acoustic folk-pop sound, shedding the experiments she had done in the 1990s with her husband, record producer Mitchell Froom.[2] New producer Rupert Hine shows some traces of his past work with '80s new wave bands by employing electronic beats,[6] but mostly allows Vega's voice and guitar to dominate in a manner reminiscent of her debut album and its 1987 follow-up, Solitude Standing.[2][6]
Most of the songs, like "Widow's Walk" and "If I Were a Weapon", deal with the dissolution of Vega's marriage with Froom.[2][6][7] Her "calm, hushed, clear singing"[2] belies the album's "mood of heartbroken defiance".[6] The lyrics are "the most personally revealing songs she has written" in her career.[7]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega except "St. Clare" written by Jack Hardy
Songs in Red and Gray track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Penitent"
4:16
2.
"Widow's Walk"
3:33
3.
"(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May"
3:47
4.
"It Makes Me Wonder"
4:00
5.
"Soap and Water"
3:03
6.
"Songs in Red and Gray"
4:18
7.
"Last Year's Troubles"
3:35
8.
"Priscilla"
4:14
9.
"If I Were a Weapon"
2:45
10.
"Harbor Song"
4:18
11.
"Machine Ballerina"
2:57
12.
"Solitaire"
2:10
13.
"St. Clare"
2:30
Total length:
45:31
Bonus track (Japanese edition)
No.
Title
Length
14.
"Golden"
3:53
Total length:
49:24
Personnel
Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar
Gerry Leonard – electric and acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mandolin, zither
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