Background and writing in
Manhattan,
New York City The "Tom's Diner" of the song is
Tom's Restaurant in
Manhattan,
New York City, a mid-20th-century diner on the northeast corner of
Broadway and West 112th Street. Singer-songwriter
Suzanne Vega was reputedly a frequent patron during the early 1980s when she was a student at nearby
Barnard College. The diner later became famous as the location used for the exterior scenes of
Monk's Café in the popular 1990s television sitcom
Seinfeld. uses clues in the song to determine the exact date that Vega wrote it. Vega said that she wrote the song in 1982; Brian Rose has said that it was written sometime between mid-1981 and mid-1982. The lyrics refer to a rainy morning, when she was at the diner on the corner, reading in her newspaper of "a story of an actor / who had died while he was drinking", and afterwards "turning to the
horoscope / and looking for the
funnies". Only two newspapers in New York City carried comic strips, or "funnies", in 1981 and 1982, and only one, the
New York Post, featured a front-page story of the death of actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s
William Holden, whose body was discovered on Monday, November 16, 1981. In a 2008 essay for
The New York Times, Vega confirmed that Holden was the actor whose death she had read about and inspired the line in the song. In a 2009 documentary about the history of the song by Swedish
SVT, Brandenburg said: "I was finishing my
PhD thesis, and then I was reading some
hi-fi magazine and found that they had used this song to test
loudspeakers. I said 'OK, let's test what this song does to my sound system, to MP3'. And the result was, at bit rates where everything else sounded quite nice, Suzanne Vega's voice sounded horrible." Brandenburg adopted the song for testing purposes, listening to it again and again each time he refined the scheme, making sure it did not adversely affect the subtlety of Vega's voice. While the MP3 compression format is not specifically tuned to play the song "Tom's Diner" (an assortment of critically analyzed material was involved in the design of the codec over many years), among
audio engineers this anecdote has earned Vega the informal title "The Mother of the MP3". Vega told a British columnist, "(A&M) asked me what I thought of it and I told them it was really kind of nice. So I said, 'Go ahead and release it.' I wasn't expecting it to be successful—I never thought it would be that popular. It just seemed very charming." Vega's vocals span from F3 to E4 in the song.
Critical reception Larry Flick from
Billboard magazine commented, "Don't miss the exceptional 'Tom's Diner', by
DNA featuring
Suzanne Vega." He noted that the English outfit had placed "a slammin'
Soul II Soul-flavored
swing instrumental" underneath Vega's song, and also described the track as "indelibly infectious." Student newspaper
Columbia Daily Spectator named it a "surprise hit". Marisa Fox from
Entertainment Weekly complimented its
dance beat as "mesmerizing".
Patrick Goldstein from
Los Angeles Times said, "Strange but true-almost." He added that the "
waif-like
pop songstress" has suddenly become the "queen of
London's trendy club scene, thanks to her sinewy, Soul II Soul-style dance hit".
Everett True from
Melody Maker commented, "This is so f***ing smooth. You know the original, I'm sure: Suzanne's unaccompanied tale of everyday morning life in the big city in the wake of a break-up, incisively, poignantly observed. Magical. Now imagine it set to an unobtrusive, mellow backbeat which slips down even easier. F***ing superb! What is it about today? Single of the week. No shit." A reviewer of
Music & Media found that "the lonely vocal part is perfectly complemented by the
Steely Dan type horns and the grinding
hip-hop beat. A fine version."
Music Week ranked the song number-one in their Top 10 list, "Pick of the Year – Dance". Diane Tameecha from
The Network Forty felt the connection of Vega's "sensuously soft voice and the unlikely rhythm (for her music, anyway) is startlingly vibrant, and its
jazziness is an instant ear-catcher." Mandi James from
NME named it Single of the Week, writing, "A strange record, if only for the fact Suzanne Vega has previously failed to move me in any way, except to get up and leave the room. Dropped against a sensual, tactile beat those irritatingly vacant girly vocals are miraculously transformed into a hypnotic, bitter sweet
ballad. The crushing folking bore has been given a new lease of life and should be eternally grateful to
plastic surgeons DNA. The nearest thing to perfection I've heard all week."
Smash Hits reviewer said remixes like this one "end up sounding far better than the originals and the result is rather refreshing." Alec Foege from
Spin remarked that "Tom's Diner" was an international hit "only after DNA did a dance remix".
Impact and legacy In 2004,
Q magazine featured the DNA remix of the song in their list of "The 1010 Songs You Must Own".
Music video A
music video was produced to promote the song, directed by Gareth Roberts. It does not feature Vega.
Track listings •
CD maxi • "Tom's Diner" – 3:47 • "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega – 2:39 • "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega – 2:08 • "Tom's Diner" – 5:20 •
7-inch single • "Tom's Diner" – 3:47 • "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega – 2:08 •
12-inch maxi • "Tom's Diner" – 6:03 (this version, containing piano with a solo part, has not yet been released digitally or on CD) • "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega • "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega •
Cassette single • "Tom's Diner" 7-inch version by Suzanne Vega (side 1) • "Tom's Diner" 12-inch version by Suzanne Vega (side 2)
Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications Release history == Giorgio Moroder version ==