What makes this lyric great? Luka – Suzanne Vega

by Tommy Snöberg Söderberg · Published 2021-10-29 · Updated 2021-10-30

I loved the lyric of Suzanne Vegas Luka already when I heard it in the late ’80s. It had so much angst that I could identify myself with it even though I was not even close to being in the situation Luka is in, in the song. The first few years I listened to it I thought this was about a child living on the second floor that wasn’t allowed by his/her parents to play with the other kids. And if he/she protested against the upbringing it would cost dearly.

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you’ve seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was

The first few lines don’t really say who Luka really is. I don’t even know to this day if it’s a typical male or female name. I guess that I, in my youth, considered it to be a young boy as it were easier to identify myself with it that way. These days I’m not so sure but more about that later. Anyway, the above lines tells me that everything is not right. If you hear something late at night. Some brawl och fighting. Someone or something falling to the floor. This kid is afraid to talk about it. Possibly because of fear that there will come more violence where that came from. It’s better to take the beating than to take another and another beating.

I think it’s because I’m clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it’s because I’m crazy
I try not to act too proud

Now we’re talking about mental abuse as well. I think that’s almost worse than physical violence. I realize that there’s really no way to compare these different kinds of abuses and that both of them are terrible to grow up with. But the physical abuse lease bruises and/or broken bones. While the psychological abuse makes the victim think it’s their own fault and even deserves what coming to them. When it’s gone this far itäs very hard to break free from the abuser.

They only hit until you cry
And after that, you don’t ask why
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore

This feels like Luka has found a safe haven. A very tragic safe haven indeed. There is a way to avoid further beating but to reach that level you must first take a lot to reach that place.

Yes I think I’m okay
I walked into the door again
If you ask that’s what I’ll say
And it’s not your business anyway

I guess I’d like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am

The downwards spiral can almost not be broken when it reaches this level. Self-blame and the illusion that the abuse is deserved. It has become tragically normalized for Luka. But who is Luka? In my youth, I thought it was a child. When I listen to this lyric now I feel it’s more about spouses and wife battering. And Maybe that is the strength of the lyric. It doesn’t really matter who the original Luka is meant to be. We can identify ourselves with a victim and it lets us feel empathy for someone. It also lets us feel the hopelessness of not being able to help someone that clearly need to get out of an unhealthy relationship. It doesn’t matter if it’s a child or a spouse. We kinda feel the same way anyway.

What do you think? Who is Luka? Let me know in the comments.