This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - Suzanne Vega's "Gypsy"

Even music fans of my generation who are quite fond of '80s music tend to believe that the era was typified by flashy extremes, from new wave to image-conscious MTV pop to the granddaddy of all '80s flashpoints, hair metal. The truth, of course, is that every musical decade experiences undulating variables of quality and trash, substance and emptiness, introspection and harebrained perpetual adolescence. Still, the dominant view of the '80s as a particularly vapid period for music - even at the time - led many to embrace the gentle neo-folk musings of singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega as the last hope for pop music.

I believe the music world would have maintained its lively ebb and flow without the emergence of some of these similarly styled back-to-basics performers, but I do have to admit that the change of pace of Vega's unique sound was more than welcome circa 1985. And although this artist's oeuvre has been unfairly shrouded by the almost exclusive popularity of "Luka" and "Tom's Diner," a song like "Gypsy" offers a telling portrait of a multi-faceted, deliberate, and highly original approach to acoustic, singer-songwriter material. Even better, Vega should serve as a fervent reminder that literate, serious music was no less common during the '80s than any other rock era; the shine and distracting sparkle of spandex just sometimes made it feel that way.

Album Cover Photo Courtesy of A&M Records