When Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles started to dig into her archives of recorded songs, old and new, she decided it was time to let them out into the world. “It’s an immense thrill to finally be able to share rare recordings that have been near and dear to my heart,” Hoffs says in a statement.
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All of her “lost” recordings include newly recorded tracks as well as some older covers, including the serene ballad “I Don’t Know Why.” Originally written by Shawn Colvin and released as the closing track on her second album, Fat City, in 1992, Hoffs later recorded her own version of the song in 1999.
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I don’t know why / But somewhere dreams come true / And I don’t know where / But there will be a place for you / And every time you look that way / I would lay down my life for you, Hoffs tenderly sings through the self-sacrificing lyrics.
“‘When I first heard I Don’t Know Why,’ it moved me deeply,” shares Hoffs. “I’ve always been drawn to themes of aloneness and the craving for connection as humans. I’d just had my second baby and was experiencing a mix of emotions; intense joy and wonder but also exhaustion and a sense of isolation.”
The song also plunged Hoffs deeper into reflections of her life, including the string of events that tied her life together throughout the 1980s.
“At the same time I was reflecting on my life,” shares Hoffs. “How did I get here given the madness of the ’80s — the constant touring, the anonymous hotel rooms, one after another, flying from city to city—and then suddenly home with our new baby? I was reflecting on the things that mattered most in life: love and connection, which were so tangible and beautifully rendered in Shawn’s song.”
Hoffs continues, “That feeling fueled a desire to record my own version of ‘I Don’t Know Why,’ so I did. Not long after recording this, the Bangles reformed, and the song languished in a box, a lost recording, until now.”
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Early in 2023, Hoffs released her most recent album, The Deep End, a collection of covers, including a less-misogynist rendition of The Rolling Stones’ Aftermath track “Under My Thumb” and Lesley Gore’s empowering 1963 hit “You Don’t Own Me,” which follows her previous album Bright Lights from 2021.
Hoffs also released her debut novel, This Bird Has Flown, which will be adapted into a film by Universal Pictures, and produced by Liza Chasin and Bruna Papandrea.
Photo: Self-portrait by Susanna Hoffs (in garage), 1994 / Kid Logic Media
