SUZANNE

SUZANNE VERDAL

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I mentioned several posts ago that The Dave Clark Five was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past Monday. That same day, Canadian poet/songwriter/performer Leonard Cohen was also inducted. Although I don't agree that Cohen should be in that particular hall of fame, he should be in some hall of fame, somewhere, for his haunting lyrics. Perhaps the Modern Poets Hall of Fame?

One of my favorites of his poem/songs is "Suzanne." I have read several bloggers who identify strongly with the song. I did as well. I wanted to be Suzanne. I thought I WAS Suzanne.

Reading the lyrics now, I see that Cohen actually used very few words to describe Suzanne. But with those words, I can conjure up this Bohemian, artistic, half woman half child. I can imagine her eccentric but pretty clothing, watch her choreographing her dances, and be with her as she whiles away the evenings with her compatriots in funky little cafes. I can visualize her quaint place by the river, with its houseplants, several cats, beaded curtains, fabrics draped on furniture and scarves draped over lamp shades.

I wanted to be a girl like Suzanne. I still do.

Did you know there was an actual Suzanne? Her name was Suzanne Verdal. She really did have a place by the river in Montreal in the early 1960s, and she really did feed Cohen tea and oranges. She was the muse of dozens of poets in Montreal's beat scene, but Cohen was the one who immortalized her.

She recalls, "I went and was very much interested in the waterfront. The St. Lawrence River held a particular poetry and beauty to me and (I) decided to live there . . . Leonard heard about this place I was living, with crooked floors and a poetic view of the river, and he came to visit me many times. We had tea together many times and mandarin oranges."

She says she and Cohen were never lovers in the physical sense, but they did have a deep spiritual union.

I took the above quotations from The Story of Suzanne, an interview she gave to BBC radio. You can read the entire interview here: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html

At the end of the interview, Suzanne was asked what the song meant to her now. Her reply:

"There’s a little bit of a bittersweet feeling to it that I retain. I guess I miss the simpler times that we lived and shared. I don’t mean to be maudlin about it, but we’ve kind of gone our different ways and lost touch and some of my most beloved friends have departed from this planet into the other spheres. And there’s sometimes a very real homesickness for Montreal and that wonderful time."

(Interviewer) Saunders: "So it almost has become a symbol of your youth, if you like?"

Suzanne: "Oh absolutely, and for many of us, I hold dear this time, very much so."

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I, too, hold those days very dear. And perhaps that is why this song means as much to me now as it did then.

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"SUZANNE"

By Leonard Cohen

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 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 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 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
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

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NOTE ADDED FRIDAY:

I am not really a fan of Leonard Cohen's singing. I actually prefer listening to his beautiful poetry performed by other artists. The most beautiful song, ever, in my opinion, is "Hallelujah" as performed by Jeff Buckley on Buckley's CD "Grace".

Another CD that I listen over and over again to is a Cohen tribute: "Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen." On this, "Suzanne" is performed by Peter Gabriel. Other artists who interpret Cohen's songs on this CD include Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Don Henley, Sting and The Chieftains, Trisha Yearwood, Bono, Elton John and Willie Nelson ("Bird on a Wire").