Suzanne

"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 song forms the theme for the final scene of Cohen's short movie I am a Hotel released in 1983. 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'.

[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