| Solitude Standing | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Suzanne Vega |
| Cover: | Pongnan21-1-.jpg |
| Recorded: | September 1986–January 1987 |
| Studio: |
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| Length: | 44:20 |
| Label: | A&M |
| Producer: | |
| Prev Title: | Suzanne Vega |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Days of Open Hand |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
Solitude Standing is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, released on April 1, 1987, by A&M Records. It is the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Vega's, being certified Platinum in the US and reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200.
"Tom's Diner" was included twice on the album; the a cappella version was the first track, and the instrumental version was the last track. In 1990, a remixed version of the song featuring DNA reached number five in the US. The song was later used to test prototype MP3 compression software.[1] "Night Vision" was inspired by the poem "Juan Gris" by Paul Éluard.[2] "Calypso" is based on the Odyssey, namely the part in which Calypso is forced to let Odysseus go.[3] It is mentioned in the work All the Young Dudes (fan fiction) by MsKingBean89 in which Odysseus and Calypso's relationship mirrors Remus and Grant's. "Gypsy" is mentioned in the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, in which the main character Charlie includes it on one of his mixtapes. Vega once stated she wrote "Gypsy" when she was only 18 years old (which would be 1977) which means the song was written 10 years before it was first released.[4]
In 2012, to mark the 25th anniversary of the album's release, Vega played four celebratory concerts in which the album was performed in its entirety. The first was in Copley Square, Boston on July 28; the second and third were at City Winery in Hudson Square, New York City on October 9 (7pm and 10pm shows); and the fourth at London's Barbican Theatre on October 16.
A limited-edition two-CD set, titled , was produced by Concert Live and made available for purchase instantly after the final show, as well as online.
Additional personnel
Production
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 7 |
| European Albums (Music & Media)[5] | 6 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] | 3 |
| French Albums (IFOP)[7] | 18 |
| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[8] | 7 |
| Chart (1987) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 22 | |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] | 9 | |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] | 19 | |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] | 69 | |
| European Albums (Music & Media)[12] | 16 | |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] | 19 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] | 12 | |
| Norwegian Summer Period Albums (VG-lista)[15] | 1 | |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] | 23 | |
| UK Albums (Gallup)[17] | 27 | |
| US Billboard 200[18] | 61 |
!scope="row"|Worldwide|| 5,000,000[19] |-
