Fat Man and Dancing Girl

'Fat Man and Dancing Girl' (audio)

'Fat Man and Dancing Girl' (otherwise known as 'Monkey In The Middle') by Suzanne Vega. From the 1992 album '99.9F°'. Lyrics by Suzanne Vega and Mitchell Froom (whom she later married, and subsequently divorced).

Suzanne Vega - vocals
Jerry Scheff - bass
Jerry Marotta - percussion
Tchad Blake - electric guitar, engineering
Mitchell Froom - keyboards, production

Suzanne Vega explaining the lyrics to Leonard Cohen:

“What ‘monkey in the middle' meant to me was that there was a person in my life who was telling me something over and over again that I didn't want to hear. I kept trying to get rid of the thing this person was saying, cause I felt this person wasn't understanding. It was a real person in my life. But, within this landscape she became the monkey in the middle and I kept trying to get rid of it... . The megaphone man is a person who gives information to the world. The girl who is covering her mouth is the girl with the secret.”

Suzanne explaining the character ‘Billy Purl’ during one of her live shows:

“So I know that you are standing there asking yourselves ‘Who is Billy Purl, the international fun boy?’. Billy Purl was a band leader in the 30s. And he toured the Vaudeville circuit in the Midwest. My grandmother was his drummer, in his band. He had an all girls band, he had a series of all girls band actually, bands. And one of them was called ’The Melody Maker's Lady's Orchestra’ and that was the one that my grandmother was the drummer for. So, now you know."

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