Suzanne
Leonard Cohen
I was very surprised when I realized that there was no real tab for this
huge folk classic, so I decided to do it myself. This is the album version
of the song, I transcribed it for 1 (classic) guitar although there is also
a bass on the album. The structure is much more complex that you could
imagine at the first listening because there is a lot of changes between
3/4, 2/4 and 4/4 bars. It's maybe difficult to "understand" the rythm, so
you should try to play the song with the album.
Brice Le Stunff, pzifff@6sens.com
Intro :
E
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|--0------------------------|--0------------------------|
3 |------1-------1---2---1----|------1-------1---2---1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2--|----2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2----|--------------2---2---2----|
|--0-------0----------------|--0-------0----------------|
|---------------------------|
|--0------------------------|
3 |------1-------1---2---1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2----|
|--0-------0----------------|
Verses :
E
|-------------------|
|--0----------------|
2 |------1-------1----|
- |----2---2---2---2--|
4 |-------------(2)---|
|--0-------0--------|
"Suzanne ...
"And Jesus ...
"Now Suzanne ...
E
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|--0--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|------1-------1---2---1-------1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|--------------2---2---2------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|--0-------0---------------0--------|
F#m
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--2--------------------------------|--2--------------------------------|
4 |------2-------2---4---2-------2----|------2-------2---4---2-------2----|
- |----4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--|----4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--|
4 |--------------4---4---4------------|--------------4---4---4------------|
|--2-------2---------------2--------|--2-------2---------------2--------|
E
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--0--------------------------------|--0--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|------1-------1---2---1-------1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|--------------2---2---2------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|--0-------0---------------0--------|
G#m A
|-----------------------------------|--0--------------------------------|
|--4--------------------------------|------2-------2---3---2---0---2----|
4 |------4-------4---6---4-------4----|----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|
- |----6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6--|-------------(2)--2--(2)--2--(2)---|
4 |--------------6---6---6------------|--0-------0------------------------|
|--4-------4---------------4--------|-----------------------------------|
E F#m
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--0--------------------------------|--2--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|------2-------2---4---2-------2----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|----4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|--------------4---4---4------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|--2-------2---------------2--------|
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/l/leonard_cohen/suzanne_tab_ver_2.html ]
E F#m
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--0--------------------------------|--2--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|------2-------2---4---2-------2----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|----4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|--------------4---4---4------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|--2-------2---------------2--------|
E
|-----------------------------------|
|--0--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|
Choruses :
E
|---------------------------|
|------------------0--------|
3 |------1---2---1-------1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |------2---2---2------------|
|--0---------------0--------|
"And you want to travel ...
G#m A
|-----------------------------------|--0--------------------------------|
|--4--------------------------------|------2-------2---3---2---0---2----|
4 |------4-------4---6---4-------4----|----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|
- |----6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6--|-------------(2)--2--(2)--2--(2)---|
4 |--------------6---6---6------------|--0-------0------------------------|
|--4-------4---------------4--------|-----------------------------------|
E F#m
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--0--------------------------------|--2--------------------------------|
4 |------1-------1---2---1-------1----|------2-------2---4---2-------2----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2--|----4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--|
4 |--------------2---2---2------------|--------------4---4---4------------|
|--0-------0---------------0--------|--2-------2---------------2--------|
End of chorus 1 & 2 :
E
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|--0------------------------|--0------------------------|
3 |------1-------1---2---1----|------1-------1---2---1----|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2--|----2---2---2---2---2---2--|
4 |--------------2---2---2----|--------------2---2---2----|
|--0-------0----------------|--0-------0----------------|
... mind."
Outro :
E
|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------|
|--0------------------------|--0------------------------|---------------|
3 |------1-------1---2---1----|------1-------1---2---2----|--1------------|
- |----2---2---2---2---2---2--|----2---2---2---2---2---2--|---------------|
4 |--------------2---2---2----|--------------2---2---2----|---------------|
|--0-------0----------------|--0-------0----------------|--0------------|
... mind."
Intro
Verse 1
Chorus 1
End of chorus 1
Verse 2
Chorus 2
End of chorus 2
Verse 3
Chorus 3
Outro
Verse 1 :
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
Chorus 1 :
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.
Verse 2 :
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
Chorus 2 :
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.
Verse 3 :
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
Chorus 3 :
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.
