Suzanne (3:47)

“Suzanne” is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen. Its lyrics first appeared as the poem “Suzanne Takes You Down” in Cohen’s 1966 book of poetry Parasites of Heaven, admittedly because of lack of new material (lyrics to a few other songs from his subsequent 1967 debut album were also printed in the book). The song was recorded by Judy Collins the same year, and by Noel Harrison and Cohen himself in 1967. It is the most-covered song in Cohen’s catalogue (though “Hallelujah” has seen a surge of recordings in recent years.)

The song forms the theme for the final scene of Cohen’s short movie I am a Hotel released in 1983.
The band R.E.M. give Cohen joint credit for their song Hope (on their 1998 album Up), in light of the similarity between the two songs. R.E.M. describe themselves as realising that similarity only after completing the song.
In 2006, Pitchfork Media listed the song #41 on their list of ‘The Top Songs of the 1960s’.