In 1987, Suzanne Vega released a song on her second album, “Solitude Standing”, called “Tom’s Diner” about a visit to a coffee shop on a rainy day.
And the rest is cover/mashup/satire history:
| Title: | Artist: | Notes: |
| Tom’s Diner | Suzanne Vega | From the album Solitude Standing |
| Tom’s Diner AKA Oh Suzanne | DNA feat. Suzanne Vega | (Dance remix-bootleg) |
| Tages Kafe | Mats Hojer | (Swedish version) |
| Tom’s Diner | Michigan & Smiley | (Reggae version) |
| Dep De Do Dep | Peter Behrens of Trio | (German satire) |
| Jeannie’s Diner | Marilyn Whitelaw/Mark Davis | (Satire) |
| Tom’s Diner Reprise | Suzanne Vega | From the album Solitude Standing |
31 minutes | 
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Great show Brian! I have to admit, the only version I had ever heard before was the DNA remix. I thought that *was* the original!
Wow, that was an awesome show. I was humming the tune all day– and so many people recognized it. Thanks so much for that awesome episode.
I really love what you did in this show, especially where you gave all the background information in the middle of the song. I have a real bad short-term memory and i would never have understood all of it if you hadn’t interupted the first track. You might have heard before that I think you talk way too much on your show every now and then, but this show is really an exception. Keep it up!
BTW, as far as I could hear, the swedish version was quite an accurate translation of the original song.
There were a few small changes in the way the song was phrased in swedish, a literal translation is:
It is early and I’m sitting at the cafe by the station and the man behind the counter brews coffee, pours it and he gives me only half cup*1 but I don’t have time to complain, because he looks away towards the door towards a woman on her way in. It is always good to see you, says the man behind the counter to the newly arrived woman, and she shakes her umbrella. I try to be sensitive, and look the other way, when they hug each other, so I pour in my milk; and I leaf through the newspaper*2 and read an article about an actor that has died, one I haven’t even heard about, I leaf though to the horoscope, looking for the funnies, when it feels like someone is observing me, so I look up. Yes, there stands a woman outside looking; can she see me? It is not me she’s looking at, but her reflection in the window, and I pretend not to notice that she lifts her skirt and adjust one of her socks*3. Her hair has become wet. It has rained uninterrupted all morning, now I hear the cathedral’s bells ringing, and I think about your voice and that midnight picknick once upon a time before the rain came. It’s time for me to leave if I want to be on time for my train.
The title is probably “Tages cafe” – Tage, is a man’s name that’s not very common these days (at least I’ve never met anyone with that name).
*1 yes, sounds odd in swedish as well, but guess the extra syllable between ‘ger mig bara halv kopp’ and ‘ger mig bara en halv kopp’ wouldn’t have fit in the rhythm.
*2 ‘tidning’ – as used, it’s not specifically a newspaper, could also be a magazine.
*3 ‘strumpa’ – sock, nylon stocking, etc.
I had always been under the impression that the melody came from the intro to Tom Wait’s Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson) on Nighthawks at the Diner.
Learn something new everyday!
Very cool and alot of fun. A day has passed so the beat is out of my brain.
I vote for doing the same for Cohen’s Hallelujah. Come-on, it has been on everything from Shrek to The L Word (both the Wainwright version on the disks, though I think it was Cale in the movie, yes). Can’t get much more diversse than that !
Covers exist from Poland, UK, Canada (kd lang and others), Norway, Spain and on and on.
Minor quibbles: “Tom’s Diner” first came out in 1987, not 1989. And it was on Suzanne Vega’s second album, not her debut album (which came out in 1985). Also, the real Tom’s Restaurant isn’t in “downtown New York” — it’s in upper Manhattan, 70 blocks north of Times Square and not far from Columbia University. Minor errors aside, great show!
Actually this diner is uptown near Columbia University. It’s like on 112th street. I’ve loved the album that these covers came from and am pleased that you made a show of it.
Keep it up!
Great show, as usual. I’m surprised you didn’t mention that “the cathedral” is a reference to St. John the Divine, which is located at 110th stret (Cathedral Boulevard) and Amsterdam Avenue.
Great show! Especially good since it featured a Swedish cover 🙂
Actually, the Toms Restaurant that she wrote this about is on Washington Ave. in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. On the wall they have a signed copy of the lyrics that say “I came, I saw, I wrote.”