Suzzane

by yael dgany

Artwork: Renoir

Joined May 2021
Published Books 1

A LITTLE ABOUT..

Suzzane was first published as a poem in 1966 when Leonard was 32 years old, 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 other versions for this song, and it has become one of the most-covered songs in Cohen’s catalogue.

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LET US FIRST HEAR THE MASTERPIECE

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LYRICS

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

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And then you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind

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

And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind
And then you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind

Now, Suzanne takes your hand and she leads you to the river
She’s wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey on our lady of the harbor
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

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And then you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind

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Suzzane by yael dgany - Illustrated by Renoir - Ourboox.com

NOW LET’S DIG IN

In the first paragraph we’re introduced to Suzzane who lives near the river, the character was inspired by Suzzane Verdal the wife of a famous Canadian sculptor and painter from Quebec.

In the song however, Suzanne appears to be less a real woman and more a personification of some divine feminine principle of wisdom.

Leonard describes that he wants to spend the night beside her probably because he likes her company. He then describes her flaws( half crazy) and her exotic nature ( she feeds him tea and oranges that come all the way from China) which is why he wants to be there. Leonard keeps describing that even though he wanted to tell her that he can’t give her the love she craves for, he can’t because in the same moment he gets carried away in the connection between the two of them and the nature.

In the chorus he describes his longing to be with her and to let all of his guards down, to trust her completely.

In this chorus he only touches her perfect body with his mind- we get the vibe that it’s still not a very deep connection, she hasn’t completely got throw to him yet.

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In the second Verse, we suddenly get a narrative about Jesus who was a sailor which seems off topic from the first love song pharagraph.

He describes Jesus as a man who is watching alone from a lonley wooden tower, somehow getting the feelings that Leonard knew him from a far .Here, we are told about the fact that Jesus was often called upon by people close to their own death probably by prayers, as an Idol. But the way Leonard describes him in this paragraph to my opinion, implies on some closeness and connection between them, kind of like the relationship he had with Suzzane. Combined with the fact that Leonard was Jewish it seems as though both of them influeneced him even though at first he didn’t want it.

The chorus after that supports this claim when you see it is Just the same as the first chorus that describes his longing to let Suzzane in, to trust and to be with her only this time, it’s with him. He then continues while he describes that he touched the narrator perfect body with his mind- meaning that Jesus got throw to him.

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In the last verse we return to Suzzane, she takes the narrator’s hand as though she pulls him, we now get the feeling that there’s a conflict within Leonard between what Suzzane represents and what Jesus represents. She makes him notice all the beautiful earthly things, between the garbage and the flowers, the statue of the lady of the harbour who looks towards the boats on the river like in the first verse, she makes him see the heroes in the seaweeed (which reffers to the drowning men from the previous verse, only now they are also heroes), the children in the morning who symbol life and opportunities.

All of this verse is decribed with warm colors- “The sun pours down like honey” and the morning. these descriptions build a positive atmosphere unlike the preivious verse which had a more gloomy atmosphere to it with words like broken, forsaken, lonely wooden tower, etc.

Afterwards we reach to the final chorus which Leonard says that “she touched your perfect body with her mind”- meaning Suzzane with her positivity and her connection to the nature and the moment and all of the earthly beauties have finally reached him.

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TO SUMMARIZE

I understood this poem as the conflict inside Leonard, between the concepts and believes that he wants to invest himself in, the pure love and more earthly things like seeing the beauty in the every day’s life or to invest on more devine sources- religion .

But that’s only my take of the poem and that’s the beauty in it.

In my opinion a good poem is a one that every one can relate, each in his own way.

I think that on that matter, we can agree.

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