Suzanne (Leonard Cohen song)

"Suzanne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen. 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). The song was recorded by Judy Collins the same year, and by Noel Harrison and Cohen himself in 1967. It is the most-covered song in Cohen's catalogue (though "Hallelujah" has seen a surge of recordings in recent years.)

The band R.E.M. give Cohen joint credit for their song "Hope" (on their 1998 album "Up"), in light of the similarity between the two songs. R.E.M. describe themselves as realising that similarity only after completing the song.

In 2006, Pitchfork Media listed the song #41 on their list of 'The Top Songs of the 1960s'.

Background

Leonard Cohen specified, notably in a BBC interview, that the song was about encountering Suzanne Verdal, the wife of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, in a Montreal setting. Indeed, many lines describe different elements of the city, including its river (the Saint Lawrence) and a little chapel near the harbour, called Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (literally Our Lady of Good Help), which sits on the side of the harbour that faces the rising sun in the morning, as it is described in the song.

Suzanne Verdal was interviewed by CBC News's "The National" in 2006 about the song. She is now homeless in Venice Beach, California, USA, where she lives in her automobile. Verdal claims that she and Cohen never had sexual relations, contrary to what some interpretations of the song suggest. Cohen himself 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. [http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/bbctrans.htm] 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 where Cohen did not speak to her (and possibly did not recognise her).

Cover versions

"Suzanne" has later been recorded by many artists, including:
*Judy Collins on the album "In My Life" (1966). Collins' version was a partial inspiration for Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses."
*Josh White, Jr. on the album "The Josh White, Jr. Album" (1967) United Artists.
*Harry Belafonte on his 1969 album, Homeward Bound. [http://www.lyricstime.com/harry-belafonte-suzanne-lyrics.html]
*Herman van Veen recorded a Dutch version. The Dutch lyrics were inspired by the original, but to a large extent new "Suzanne" (1969)
*Fabrizio de André recorded an Italian translation on the single "Suzanne/Giovanna D'Arco" (1972); the B-side is another Cohen translation ("Joan of Arc")
*Joan Baez on three different albums, as well as in Bob Dylan's 1978 concert film "Renaldo & Clara".
*Neil Diamond on the album "Stones" (1971)
*Roberta Flack on the album "Killing Me Softly" (1973)
*Peter Gabriel on the tribute album "Tower of Song" (1995)
*Genesis (a 1960s US band, not to be confused with the better-known UK band) as B-side to the single "Angeline" (1968)
*George Hamilton IV on the album "In the 4th Dimension" (1969)
*Nana Mouskouri on the album "Fille du Soleil" (2002)
*Geoffrey Oryema on the tribute album "I'm Your Fan" (1991)
*Pearls Before Swine on the album "Balaklava" (1968)
*Nina Simone on "To Love Somebody" (1969)
*Fairport Convention played the song live in the late 1960s, but never recorded a studio version.
*Finnish rock musician Hector has made the song in Finnish.
*Graeme Allwright recorded a French translation of the song
*Chanteuse Françoise Hardy also recorded a French translation of the song on her 1968 album "Comment Te Dire Adieu"
*Bomb on the album "Hate-Fed Love" (1992)
*Dianne Reeves on the album "Bridges" (1999)
*Kevin Parent on the album "Les vents ont changé" (2001)
*Jazz vocalist René Marie on the album "Live at the Jazz Standard" (2003), incorporating and blending the song with an a capella rendering of Boléro by Maurice Ravel.
*Singer/guitarist Bob Morley on the album "Reflections" (Jewel Records LPS 299)
*Dirty Three have performed an instrumental version of the song live numerous times.
*Aga Zaryan on the album "Picking up the Pieces" (2006)
*James Taylor on the album "Covers" (2008)
*Alain Bashung on the album "Bleu Pétrole" (2008) French cover
*Aretha Franklin on the album "Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul". The album, released in 2007, features outtakes from many of Franklin's 60s sessions with Jerry Wexler.
*Eivør Pálsdóttir, in several concerts during her summer and fall tour in Denmark (2008).

ampling

*Robert McKay used lines from Cohen's poem as chapter headers in his 1969 young adult novel "Dave's Song".
*Verses of the song are played intermittently throughout the 1974 movie "The Second Coming of Suzanne", starring Sondra Locke, Paul Sand, Jared Martin and Richard Dreyfuss.
*UK guitar-wielding rapper Plan B sampled the song for his Paint It Blacker mixtape, detailing a fictionalised account of a prostitute killed by the Camden Ripper and dumped in the river.

References

External links

* [http://leonardcohenfiles.com/album1.html#0 The song lyrics] , from The Leonard Cohen Files
* [http://www.cbc.ca/national/news/suzanne/ The story of "Suzanne" – "The National" (CBC)]
* [http://chnm.gmu.edu/ematters/issue4/firstloves/Intro_miller.html Introduction to "Suzanne Takes You Down"] by E. Ethelbert Miller
* [http://boppin.com/2006/10/suzanne.html Suzanne] , Recollection by Brian Nation
* [http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html Transcripted excerpt from the BBC Radio 4 FM, June 1998 interview with Suzanne Verdal McCallister]
* [http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=07122006 Reference in Pop Culture]