It's called Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega. Ignore the random fan-made video.

The song is the most basic thing I've ever heard. She makes her own background music in between vocals and the lyrics are basically just a narration of events at a diner on a random, uneventful day. Lyrics below the video! The song is so generic that it has the possibility to be turned into something completely different if you sing over it... Erin heard my attempt at this. Wasn't too bad in my opinion.

Maybe we can try and make Suzanne Vega sound a bit smarter. Could "diner" be symbolic of her "consciousness"? The coffee being half-filled could mean she's failing to realize something. The woman in the rain is a subconscious depiction of who she wishes to be. Etc.


I am sitting
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner

I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee

And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue

He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in

"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter

To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella

And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos

I'm pretending
Not to see them
Instead
I pour the milk

I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor

Who had died
While he was drinking
It was no one
I had heard of

And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies

When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head

There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?

No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection

And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt

And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Has gotten wet

Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening

To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...

And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...

I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train

Haha, this song. Haven't heard it for a while. It's catchy. I think there's more to the story but I've never thought at great lengths about it.

I don't think it's weird though :P

"Don't vote, it only encourages them."

Oh yeah. This is a pretty amusing song.

Let's not be so quick to jump on it. It could be symbolic, or it could just be...an uneventful day. With all the other crap out there, a song like that might just be artistic genius.

Keep this in mind: whether it be a rock or a grain of sand, in water, they both sink.
-Oldboy

Could the actor in the newspaper echo her internal struggle with alcohol abuse? She has never heard of the actor, so she will continue to be a raging alcoholic. She instead looks for distractions to keep her mind off of her descent into madness so she looks for the funnies and horoscopes. Then suddenly she feels guilty of her decision to not seek help with her addiction which brings about the feeling she gets that causes her to raise your head. Her head is not raised because she does not want anyone to see the dazed and troubled look on her face. It is simply brought on by her paranoia that everyone in the diner knows about her drinking problems. She's paranoid because she is drunk!


Crazy stuff... haha