"Suzanne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
in the 1960s. First published as a poem in 1966, it was recorded as a song by
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...
in the same year, and Cohen performed it as his debut
single, from his 1967 album ''
Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Many other singers have recorded it, and it has become one of the most recorded songs in Cohen's catalogue.
''
Far Out'' and ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwri ...
'' ranked the song number four and number two, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Leonard Cohen songs. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 284 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
''s "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Background
"Suzanne" was inspired by Cohen's
platonic relationship with the dancer Suzanne Verdal. Its lyrics describe the rituals that they enjoyed when they met: Suzanne would invite Cohen to visit her apartment by the harbour in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, where she would serve him
Constant Comment tea,
and they would walk around
Old Montreal
Old Montreal (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...
past the church of
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, where sailors were blessed before heading out to sea.
Verdal was interviewed by
CBC News
CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
's ''
The National'' 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
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
interview that he only imagined having sex with her, as there was neither the opportunity nor inclination to actually go through with it. Verdal has said she met Cohen twice after 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 (and possibly did not recognise her). Verdal never benefited financially from the song's enormous commercial success.
Its lyrics first appeared as the poem "Suzanne Takes You Down" in Cohen's 1966 book of poetry ''Parasites of Heaven''. The song was on his debut album ''
Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Cohen's recording was released as a single in 1968 but did not reach music charts. The song only charted after Cohen's death in 2016.
In popular culture
Film
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
performed the song in the film ''
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man''.
Other
Martin Sharp wrote the lyrics for Cream's "
Tales of Brave Ulysses
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song recorded in 1967 by British group Cream.
It was released as the B-side to the " Strange Brew" single in May 1967. In November, the song was included on Cream's second album, '' Disraeli Gears''. The song feat ...
" to the melody of the Judy Collins version of this song.
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
later set Sharp's lyrics to his own music.
Charts
Certifications
Notable recordings
The song "Suzanne" was first performed by The Stormy Clovers in 1966 and then recorded by
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...
, appearing on her 1966 album ''
In My Life
"In My Life" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, ''Rubber Soul''. Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute ...
''.

In 1967,
Noel Harrison's version—the second cover of the song—reached number 125 in the
Bubbling Under the Hot 100
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
chart on the week ending September 30. Harrison's version entered the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
chart at number 86 on October 28 and peaked at number 56 on November 25, 1967. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
it reached number 38.
In 1969,
Herman van Veen's Dutch version entered the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica 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,
[Arjatsalo, J., Riise, A., & Kurzweil, K. (July 11, 2009)]
A Thousand Covers Deep: Leonard Cohen Covered by Other Artists
. The Leonard Cohen Files. Retrieved July 12, 2009. including a young
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
in his band the Castiles.
It has been translated in Italian by
Fabrizio De André and included in his album ''
Canzoni'' (1974).
The band
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...
gave Cohen a joint songwriting credit for their song "
Hope
Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large.
As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...
" (on their 1998 album ''
Up''), in light of the similarity between the two songs.
References
External links
The song lyrics from Leonard Cohen's web site (higher graphics)
from The Leonard Cohen Files (lower graphics)
Rear-view Mirror: Who was "Suzanne" and why did Leonard Cohen make her famous? (CBC)
{{Authority control
1967 songs
1967 debut singles
Leonard Cohen songs
Joan Baez songs
Judy Collins songs
Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs
Nina Simone songs
Columbia Records singles
Songs about Canada
Songs based on poems
Songs written by Leonard Cohen