music.wikisort.org - Composition

"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 2021, it was ranked at No. 284 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[1][2]

"Suzanne"
Dutch vinyl single
Single by Leonard Cohen
from the album Songs of Leonard Cohen
B-side	"Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" "So Long, Marianne"
Released	January 1968
Recorded	Columbia Studio E, New York City
Genre	Folk
Length	3:48
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Leonard Cohen
Producer(s)	John Simon
Alternative release
"Hall of Fame" vinyl rerelease, circa 1970–71 (Canadian edition pictured)

Background

"Suzanne" was inspired by Cohen's platonic relationship with 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, where she would serve him Constant Comment tea,[3] and they would walk around Old Montreal past the church of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, where sailors were blessed before heading out to sea.[4]

Verdal was interviewed by CBC News's The National in 2006 about the song. Verdal says that she and Cohen never had a sexual relationship,[5] 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.[6] 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 (and possibly did not recognise her). Verdal never benefited financially from the song's enormous commercial success.[7] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.[8] The song only charted after Cohen's death in 2016.

In popular culture

Film

Nick Cave performed the song in the film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.[9]

Other

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.[10]

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11]	39
France (SNEP)[12]	3
Germany (Official German Charts)[13]	61
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14]	79
Scotland (OCC)[15]	56
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[16]	9
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17]	14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18]	Silver	200,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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.

In 1967, Noel Harrison's version—the second cover of the song[19]—reached number 125 in the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on the week ending September 30.[20] Harrison's version entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 86 on October 28[21] and peaked at number 56 on November 25, 1967.[22][23][24]

In 1969, Herman van Veen's Dutch version[25] entered the Dutch Top 40 list at number 39 on April 26[26] and reached fourth place on May 31.[27]

It has since been covered by many other artists,[1] including a young Bruce Springsteen in his band the Castiles.[28]

It has been translated in Italian by Fabrizio De André and included in his album Canzoni (1974).

The band R.E.M. gave Cohen a joint songwriting credit for their song "Hope" (on their 1998 album Up), in light of the similarity between the two songs.[29]

References

External links

• The song lyrics, from Leonard Cohen's web site (higher graphics)
• The song lyrics, from The Leonard Cohen Files (lower graphics)
• Rear-view Mirror: Who was "Suzanne" and why did Leonard Cohen make her famous? (CBC)
• Transcripted excerpt from the BBC Radio 4 FM, June 1998 interview with Suzanne Verdal McCallister

На других языках

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[de] Suzanne (Lied)

Suzanne ist ein Lied des kanadischen Singer-Songwriters Leonard Cohen. Es wurde 1966 erstmals von der amerikanischen Folksängerin Judy Collins veröffentlicht und erschien im folgenden Jahr auf Cohens Debütalbum Songs of Leonard Cohen. Als eines der bekanntesten Lieder Cohens veranlasste Suzanne zahlreiche Musiker zu Coverversionen. Pitchfork Media führt den Song auf Platz #41 in der Liste der Top Songs of the 1960s.[1]

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- [en] Suzanne (Leonard Cohen song)

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[es] Suzanne (canción de Leonard Cohen)

«Suzanne» es una canción con letra y música del poeta, escritor y músico canadiense Leonard Cohen. La canción tiene su origen en el poema Suzanne Takes You Down incluido en el libro de poemas Parasites of Heaven de 1966 como otras canciones de su primer álbum Songs of Leonard Cohen de 1967. Esta canción fue grabada por primera vez por Judy Collins y se incluye en su álbum de 1966 In my life.

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[ru] Suzanne (песня Леонарда Коэна)

«Suzanne» — песня Леонарда Коэна[2].

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