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"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. The song 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. In the same year, it was recorded as a song by Judy Collins, and Cohen performed it as his debut single, from his 1967 debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Cohen's recording was released as a single in 1968 but did not reach music charts - it only charted after Cohen's death in 2016. Many other artists have recorded versions, and it has become one of the most covered songs in Cohen's catalogue. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 284 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".