Headshots

Headshots

The sign said Headshots
And that was all
A picture of a boy
And a number you could call
Two eyes in the shade
A mouth so sad and small
It's strange the way a shadow
Can fall across the wall
And make the difference
In what you see

He's just a poster
But he's everywhere
A face under a street lamp
Ripped and hanging in the air
Turn the corner
And he's still there
Watching all the people
Who are passing unaware
Is there a judgement
In what he sees?

On a day
As cold
And gray
As today

The sign says "Headshots"
It's all I see
A boy becomes a picture
Of guilt and sympathy
And so I think of you
In memory
Of the days we were together,
And I knew that you loved me
That was the difference
In what we see,
But that's history


Single release :	1997
Lyrics :	Suzanne Vega
Copyright :	© 1996 WB Music Corp. / Waifersongs Ltd.
Album :	Nine Objects Of Desire
"Nine Objects Of Desire" - tracklist : Birth-day (Love Made Real) Headshots Caramel Stockings Casual Match Thin Man No Cheap Thrill World Before Columbus Lolita Honeymoon Suite Tombstone My Favourite Plum

Notes:

Suzanne on the motivation to write Headshots:
"To me, that's a song about walking through Soho, which is near where I live. For a while, there was a poster that was all over Manhattan. It just said Headshots and there was the number, and there was the face of a boy. It was just evocative, almost as a piece of art in itself. It was a photographer trying to get work, but I found that that face reminded me of someone that I used to live with, and that provoked a lot of memories and guilt, and so on and so forth. That's how that song ended up being written. It's a reflective song."
Music Power Network interview by Mr. Bonzai (http://www.vega.net/bonzai.htm)

The objective of desire is a man, a different one from the man we find in Casual Match and Caramel. [Ed.]