Suzanne (Leonard Cohen song)

"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	1967
Recorded	Columbia Studio E, New York City
Genre	Folk
Length	3:48
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Leonard Cohen
Producer(s)	John Simon
Alternative release "Hall of Fame" vinyl rerelease, circa 1970-71 (Canandian edition pictured)

"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 #41 on their list of "The Top Songs of the 1960s".

"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 around Old 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 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 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 (and possibly did not recognise her). Verdal never benefited financially from the song's enormous commercial success. According to his on-stage comments, Cohen benefited only from his own performances, 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.