Suzanne

The story behind Suzanne takes you to a particular encounter in Montreal. The lyrics, which first saw the light of day as the poem "Suzanne Takes You Down" in 1966, describe the rituals shared between Leonard Cohen and the dancer Suzanne Verdal. She would invite him to her home near the port, where they would share tea and walk through Old Montreal, passing by the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours church, a place of blessing for sailors before setting sail. Verdal clarified that her relationship with Cohen was platonic, denying interpretations that suggest a romantic or sexual bond. Cohen, for his part, mentioned in an interview that he only imagined that intimacy, without it ever happening. She never received any financial benefit from the song's success.

The song was first recorded by Judy Collins in 1966, appearing on her album In My Life. That same year, Leonard Cohen performed it for his solo debut, included on his first studio album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, released in 1967. Cohen's version was released as a single in January 1968, but it did not chart until after his death in 2016. Other notable versions include Noel Harrison's, which reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967, and Herman van Veen's in Dutch, which reached fourth place on the Dutch Top 40 in 1969. The song has been covered by a large number of artists, including a young Bruce Springsteen with his band The Castiles. In 1973, it closed Roberta Flack's album Killing Me Softly. Later, Fabrizio De André translated it into Italian for his album Canzoni in 1974. The group R.E.M. acknowledged the similarity to their song "Hope," from the 1998 album Up, granting Cohen shared credit for the composition. In 2005, Nick Cave performed Suzanne in the film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.