Song: "Suzanne," ~ written by Leonard Cohen...

"Suzanne" was inspired by Cohen's platonic relationship with dancer Suzanne Verdal. 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. Verdal never benefited financially from the song's enormous commercial success. Its lyrics first appeared as the poem "Suzanne Takes You Down" in Cohen's 1966 book of poetry Parasites of Heaven. The song was on his debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Cohen's recording was released as a single in 1968 but did not reach music charts. The song only charted after Cohen's death in 2016. *** "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 wanna 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 the 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 you know that you can trust her For she's touched your perfect body with her mind...