She is shaking her umbrella

While waiting for this miserable weather to clear, it's time for another timeslip moment...

Back we hurtle to this week twenty-five years ago to 1990 - an era when the "Iron Curtain" was rusting across Europe (with the forthcoming union of East and West Germany, and liberty for Armenia and Bulgaria just the latest in the news), war in the Persian Gulf was looming, Apartheid in South Africa was being dismantled, BBC Radio 5 was launched, the first series of Stars in Their Eyes was won by Maxine Barrie performing as Shirley Bassey, Darkman, Ghost and Wild at Heart were in the cinemas - and a largely overlooked folk singer from Greenwich Village had a completely unexpected dance hit, her biggest-selling of her career...

Here's Miss Suzanne Vega (for it is she), remixed by two DJs from the beautiful English town of Bath under the name "DNA":

DNA vs Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner

I am sitting
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner

I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee

And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue

He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in

"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter

To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella

And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos

I'm pretending
Not to see them
Instead
I pour the milk

I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor

Who had died
While he was drinking
It was no one
I had heard of

And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies

When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head

There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?

No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection

And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt

And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Has gotten wet

Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening

To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...

And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...

I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train

Either one of the most contagious, or the most annoying, songs ever, depending on where you stand...

Suzanne Vega on Wikipedia