Suzanne (1967) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on January 7, 2025 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

I wrote this in 1966. Suzanne (dancer Suzanne Verdal) had a room on a waterfront street in the port of Montreal. Everything happened just as it was put down. She was the wife of a man I knew. Her hospitality was immaculate. Some months later I sang it to Judy Collins over the telephone. The publishing rights were pilfered in New York City but it is probably appropriate that I don’t own this song. Just the other day I heard some people singing it on a ship in the Caspian Sea.

– From the 1976 back cover of “Greatest Hits” (“some notes on the songs”).

Suzanne is my Desert Island Leonard Cohen song choice and in my top 10 favourite songs. This exquisitely penned romantic-folk ballad is the first track on Leonard Cohen’s 1967 debut album: Songs of Leonard Cohen and the fourth track to be presented here from the album after his previous entry: So Long, Marianne. Susan was first published as a poem in Cohen’s 1966 collection “Parasites of Heaven” (see image left).

Apart from the original studio release, I also like these two memorable versions:
1. Judy Collins and Leonard Cohen live Suzanne 1976.
Judy Collins welcomes Leonard Cohen to her PBS TV concert performance in this video clip from January 1976. They perform Cohen’s song, “Suzanne,” which Judy had recorded for her 1966 landmark album, In My Life.
2. Nick Cave’s version in the Leonard Cohen concert film – I’m Your Man.
The way he lags just slightly behind the girl chorus is ecstatically beautiful.

[Verse 1]
Suzanne takes you down
To her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half-crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover

[Chorus]
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind

[Verse 2]
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said, “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

[Chorus]
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind

[Verse 3]
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

[Chorus]
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind

References:
1. Suzanne (Leonard Cohen song) – Wikipedia