Vega, Suzanne - Ironbound / Fancy Poultry Lyrics






In the ironbound section near Avenue L
where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
the clouds so low the morning so slow
as the wires cut through the sky

The beams and bridges cut the light on the ground
into little triangles and the rails run round
through the rust and the heat
the light and sweet coffee color of her skin

Bound up in wire and fate
watching her walk him up to the gate
in front of the ironbound school yard.

Kids will grow like weeds on a fence
She says they look for the light they try to make sense.
They come up through the cracks
Like grass on the tracks
She touches him goodbye.

Steps off the curb and into the street
the blood and feathers near her feet
into the ironbound market

In the ironbound section near Avenue L
where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
the clouds so low the morning so slow
as the wires cut through the sky

She stops at the stall
fingers the ring
opens her purse
feels a longing
away from the ironbound border

"Fancy poulty parts sold here.
Breasts and thighs and hearts.
Backs are cheap and wings are nearly free.
Nearly free"





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Vega, Suzanne Ironbound / Fancy Poultry Comments
  1. G.... -....

    Une des plus belles de l'album ♡

  2. E.... M....

    This song brings me in a dimension where everything is at its right place. And it has been doing this job for over thirty years now.

  3. E.... M....

    One of the best underated acoustic guitar players ever!!!💖

  4. s.... e....

    Suzanne you are wonderful

  5. S.... J....

    Easily one of the best albums of the 80's , at least in my collection .

  6. M.... C....

    Go Vegan.

  7. M.... B....

    Wikipedia cited this song and some films set in Iron Bound. I had looked up "Down Neck" and Ironbound in Newark, New Jersey because I'm reading Philip Roth's American Pastoral. I wanted to see photos of the railroad. I have a feeling for the area from the word picture.

  8. f.... ....

    This is the sort of song you don't think much about when you first listen to an album because it doesn't have conventional hooks. But once it grabs you, man, it really grabs you! This is one of Suzanne's finest and most compelling works of art. I believe the "fancy poultry parts sold here" refrain near the end provides a major clue as to what the song is about.

  9. c.... t....

    suzanne you're killing me

  10. J.... P....

    Heard this song playing in a quiet local restaurant the other day it was a strange and kinda surreal to hear a Suzanne Vega song playing!

  11. D.... e....

    Suzanne Vega is just fascinating ! I am 50 years old and 30 years of fascination for her !!! ❤️❤️❤️ from 🇫🇷

    D.... e....

    ,53now love her like I did when it first came out

  12. d.... h....

    Fine fine finely crafted pop.
    This album is so good.

  13. G.... ....

    Thx dude.... appreciated. Love Suzanne! :) And if you so happen to be Chinese, let me say a well felt "Xie Xie".

  14. M.... B....

    Love this song!

  15. D.... R....

    I've been listening to this song for exactly 30 years. And I haven't got tired of it yet. The melody, the mood, the lyrics, the harmonies, the arrangement, the tone of the every single instrument, the sonical space of the song and of course her unobtrusive, gentle voice and her soul behind it are simply touching.

    D.... R....

    Thank you Davor, totally agree.

  16. R.... R....

    Reminds me of the mid 80s when I was in my 20s - I had survived the 70s and my teen age years - Big progressive rock fan - you know - Genesis - Yes - King Crimson - Jethro Tull - of course I had become a musician - this music was a change for me - love the ending of this track - use to try to play along to it.

    R.... R....

    Funny thing Richard Robbins, I approached this song the same way.

    R.... R....

    Only know Wonderwall.

    R.... R....

    I recognized it.

  17. W.... M....

    motherhood in a nutshell

    W.... M....

    I just thought it was about living in Newark's Ironbound section.

    W.... M....

    Another poster had suggested a darker meaning to this song. It was mentioned that the woman is a prostitute and divorced single mother supporting her son. I've always felt an uneasy underlying tone which couldn't be interpreted superficially. The 2 titles "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" seems to suggest 2 different interpretations to the song.

    W.... M....

    There seems to be hope for the little boy, who may 'grow out' of Ironbound. The mother leaves him to go on to an area of "blood and feathers."

    W.... M....

    A dark song indeed, about the prison we both build and grow up into. A division of reality into compartments, with childlike wonder breaking through the bars and growing out of the least likely places, and the loving touch of a mother the humanity possible in all such self-enclosures.

    W.... M....

    I think that's part of what makes this song so brilliant -- you have to really put the pieces together to work out its meaning, and even then, there are different interpretations that seem valid. I personally think this interpretation is right on the money.

  18. S.... H....

    SVs best song...hands down

  19. s.... ....

    I've always loved this track, too.  Sad and haunting.

  20. L.... K....

    Love this album, especially this track :)