Lyrics for Marlene On The Wall as interpreted by Novartza

Marlene On The Wall Lyrics
Even if I am in love with you
All this to say, what's it to you?
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the fingerprints on me from you
Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing
But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher shot with the sawdust strewn
"Don't give away the goods too soon"
Is what she might have told me
And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As she records the rise and fall
Of every man who's been here
But the only one here now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing
Marlene on the wall

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ItsAllIWant
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
Suzanne Vega needs to be more appreciated. There are no comments on her songs! This is a great song, and although I'm not really sure what it's about, I'm pretty sure it has to do with sex. Especially in the thrid verse when she says,
"I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher shot with the sawdust strewn
"Don't give away the goods too soon"
Is what she might have told me
And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving "
She's speaking of lust. Both lovers know it's wrong but they can't help themselves. As she leaves, "Marlene watches from the wall." "Marlene" (a painting or portrait most likely) has seen all the other lovers that have been there, hence her mocking smile. The narrator reminded that this is really nothing more than just another ordinary relationship. Finally she walks away from that relationship, "I think it's called my destiny/ that I am changing."
not sure if that's correct, but that is how I see it.

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missme
02-04-2006

Rated 0 
Sounds like a it's about a forbidden relationship. The guys using her, but she's letting him, even though she knows it: "Even if I am in love with you/All this to say, what's it to you?" It's obviously something that shouldn't be happening:

"Of the fingerprints on me from you
Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later"

She knows she should stop, but she can't:

"And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving"

Marlene is a picture or painting in the guys house, and she's always watching girls coming to & from getting up to know good, which is why she's got a "mocking smile"

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so_fetch!
07-11-2006

Rated 0 
i love this song. definitely agree on the first comment about suzanne being underappreciated

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so_fetch!
07-11-2006

Rated 0 
i love this song. definitely agree on the first comment about suzanne being underappreciated

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Praskovia
07-19-2006

Rated 0 
Marlene refers to Marlene Dietrich.

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that_sullen_girl
10-20-2006

Rated 0 
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing


I love those lines, how they can be taken so differently.

Is it that thing destiny, that is making her change?
Or is she changing her destiny?

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bayberry_moon
12-25-2006

Rated 0 
I am officially in love with this song now

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rmusic
01-22-2007

Rated 0 
agree with the first comment.. suzanne vega is great!!
you cover it all I have nothing to include ;)

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Larchman
03-15-2007

Rated 0 
I love how Suzanne's voice changes from mellow to intense during the chorus...you can really hear it on the SNL performance.

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jenpage50
09-20-2007

Rated 0 
The other opinions on this song are really nice but im sorry, Im pretty sure this is about domestic abuse. Theres too many references to violence - "Observe the blood, the rose tattoo Of the fingerprints on me from you" Thats bruising from where he has gripped or slapped her. "We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later" Thats a fight they've had. "I'm fighting things I cannot see" Shes fighting her love for him and her desire to stay.

And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving

He's forced her into something, and I suspect the night they kissed was what he was like before he became violent. Shes realised she should go.

I think she loves him but he hurts her. I agree with the 'marlene is a picture' interpretation, I never really got that before.

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noelsguitar
09-24-2007

Rated 0 
Suzanne Vega once had a poster of the great Marlene Dietrich on her wall. This song is sung from the point of view of Marlene Dietrich looking down at Suzanne Vega living her life. There is obviously a forbidden relationship taking place and the song switches from Suzannes point of view of things and then to how Marlene Dietrich would view it.
"Marlene watches from the wall, her mocking smile says it all......"
"Don't give away the goods too soon is what she might have told me....."

Very clever and very toughing actually.

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Ldxar1
08-19-2008

Rated 0 
It's about loss of virginity. Possibly also in a taboo relationship. I don't think the relationship is abusive, I can see where this comes from though.

On one occasion she sings "my destiny, AND I am changing" so it's her destiny to change (grow up, lose virginity). The blood is from loss of virginity, rose tattoo is a love bite/hickie, reference to evidence is fear of being discovered.

"Reminded me of the night we kissed" = exciting like the first kiss, "why I should be leaving" = if she stays (which she did) they'll have sex, "tried to resist" succumbing to temptation. "Don't give away the goods too soon".

The relationship is either taboo or insecure and she doesn't know what it means to the other person, if he/she is in love too (what's it to you?), whether he views her as meat (a conquest) and she's given him sex too soon (the butcher's shop - sawdust would be strewn in a butcher's to cover/clean blood; giving away goods too soon). She has been compelled by desire (the "handsome fist") to act in a way she thinks is unwise.

Marlene's perspective is the perspective of the knowing other who has seen it all and for whom all of this which seems contingent and important, seems predictable and trivial. I assumed Marlene was a historic portrait which had seen much history, but since it refers to Marlene Dietrich the soldiers might refer to her popularity as a WW2 pinup. Hence the emotional turmoil as analogous to the emotional impact of combat.

The relationship is covert, carried on around a "danger zone" (risk of being caught), not talked about, she's frightened of evidence being exposed, the couple are alone. It could be covert for all kinds of reasons (class or ethnic or other differences, underage, disapproved of, adulterous), but one possibility is that it's a lesbian relationship - hence "held in handsome fist" and "fingerprints" could be a reference to fisting, and "changing" could be a reference to realising one's sexuality (changing from assumed heterosexuality to knowing oneself to be gay).

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!@#$%^&*()
10-03-2008

Rated 0 
this is one of my favourite songs i will leave a comment on it but for now...........
look for my meanings in other suzzane vega songs especially queen and the soldier i am !@#$%^&*()

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NutzyPixe
11-02-2008

Rated 0 
I think it's about a abusive relationship. She is the soldier in the abusive relationship. She is fighting against him and losing the war. She is changing cause now she is aware that it may be a one sided relationship, she may love him but he doesn't love her.

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NutzyPixe
11-02-2008

Rated 0 
I really like ldxari comment. I'm reconsidering my previous comment because ldxari makes some pretty good insights on the meaning of this song but so does jenpage50. Maybe it is an abusive relationship with all of Idxari insights too. Maybe she lost her virginity to an abusive man. But maybe she sees that she is gullible and naive in the relationship and he is an abusive man. No matter what I belive this song is about a relationship that is wrong and that at first she was in denial of it all and now sees that she was.

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NutzyPixe
11-02-2008

Rated 0 
correction: Ldxar1

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lika21
05-01-2009

Rated 0 
jenpage50: I really like your vision, I have nothing to include :)

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