And you know that she will trust you/
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.

In “Suzanne”, Leonard Cohen tells of about a woman he is very attracted to that he meets up with sometimes. There seems to be a physical and emotional connection—at least on his end. He mentions several times she is beautiful, but that is not what makes her intriguing.

She has a special place down by the river that she takes him to, and she includes him in this little piece of her world, and he is charmed by that. It is not clear that anything really happens between them other than he fancies her.

Like many of Cohen’s works, “Suzanne” is not overproduced. It is basically his voice and a guitar. There are nice touches of instrumentation that are subtle that make the recording work. The background accompanying singers in the background sound fantastic. They sound like an angelic choir—which is fitting with the religious symbolism in the song. The light strings also do a great deal to break up the monotony of a song without a bridge.

“Suzanne” is great because we hear Cohen’s affection for Suzanne in his voice and his poetry. Only a few singer-songwriters ever achieve that “poet” level lyrics writer. The melody is good, it is a bit more subtle than the usual rock or folk songs. Combined with Cohen’s penchant for singing subtly, this great song could be missed.

Suzanne 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 he 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 you maybe you’ll trust him,
For he’s touched your perfect body with her 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 her 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.

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen