"Suzanne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen in the 1960s. First published as a poem in 1966, it was recorded as a song by Judy Collins in the same year, and Cohen performed it as his debut single, from his 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Many other artists have recorded versions, and it has become one of the most-covered songs in Cohen's catalogue. In 2006, Pitchfork Media listed the song No. 41 on their list of "The Top Songs of the 1960s".
Background
"Suzanne" was inspired by Cohen's platonic relationship with Suzanne Verdal, the then-girlfriend of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt. Its lyrics describe the rituals that they enjoyed when they met: Suzanne would invite Cohen to visit her apartment by the harbour in Montreal, where she would serve him Constant Comment tea, and they would walk aroundOld Montreal past the church of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, where sailors were blessed before heading out to sea. Verdal was interviewed by CBC News's in 2006 about the song. Verdal says that she and Cohen never had a sexual relationship, contrary to what some interpretations of the song suggest. Cohen stated in a 1994 BBC interview that he only imagined having sex with her, as there was neither the opportunity nor inclination to actually go through with it. She says she has met Cohen twice since the song's initial popularity; once after a concert Cohen performed in the 1970s and once in passing in the 1990s when she danced for him, but Cohen did not speak to her. Verdal never benefited financially from the song's enormous commercial success. In introducing the song during his 1968 performance on the BBC, Cohen said he benefited only from his own performances of "Suzanne," having signed away his rights to the song itself in a legal document deceptively presented to him which he did not read. Its lyrics first appeared as the poem "Suzanne Takes You Down" in Cohen's 1966 book of poetry Parasites of Heaven, admittedly because of lack of new material. Lyrics to a few other songs from his subsequent 1967 debut album were also printed in the book.
Notable recordings
The song "Suzanne" was first performed by The Stormy Clovers in 1966 and then recorded by Judy Collins, appearing on her 1966 album In My Life. It was later released by Cohen on his debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Cohen's recording did not reach music charts. In 1967, Noel Harrison's version—the second cover of the song—reached number 125 in the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on the week ending September 30. Harrison's version entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 86 on October 28 and peaked at number 56 on November 25, 1967. In 1969, Herman van Veen's Dutch version entered the Dutch Top 40 list at number 39 on April 26 and reached fourth place on May 31. It has since been covered by many other artists, including a young Bruce Springsteen in his band the Castiles. Joan Baez's version is notable for the modifications of the lyrics. The band R.E.M. gave Cohen a joint songwriting credit for their song "Hope", in light of the similarity between the two songs. R.E.M. describe themselves as realising that similarity only after completing the song.
Martin Sharp wrote the lyrics for Cream's Tales of Brave Ulysses to the melody of this song, specifically the Judy Collins version. Eric Clapton later set Sharp's lyrics to his own music.
