September 18, 2016

Boomer Hymns: Suzanne -- "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"

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

Posted by gerardvanderleun at September 18, 2016 1:02 AM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

Nice. I prefer the Judy Collins version, but then I'm a fan.

The Boomers (I'm too old) screwed up a lot of stuff, but they produced good music. Not so much today.

Posted by: bob sykes at September 11, 2016 3:53 AM

I've heard that song for years and despite my active imagination I've never made any sense of it.

But that applies to every thing I've ever heard out of Leonard Cohen and on that basis alone I can't understand why Joni Mitchell would screw him.

He must have had a heavy rap when the bong was being passed around.

Posted by: Jack at September 11, 2016 7:23 AM

Bob, I'm with you (also too old to be a Boomer). This and McCartny"s "In My Life" were my two favorite songs written in the '60s. And they're both on the same Judy Collins CD.

Posted by: Chuck R at September 18, 2016 5:38 AM

Jack: I think way back in Gerard's blog there is a post @ Suzanne. She's a real hippy gal that LC knew, iirc. Really good story and straightens this song out for you.

Don't we all have that one unobtainable one whom we just barely touched?

LC is a space cadet, but he makes good music.

Boomers get a bad rap (I'm one). Deservedly so, but in the really long memory history may redeem us.

Nah. Probably not.

Posted by: Casey Klahn at September 18, 2016 7:48 AM

Christ, that's depressing. Still.

Posted by: Rob De Witt at September 18, 2016 10:18 AM

I love Nick, but in this case Leonard did it better.

Posted by: pbird at September 18, 2016 12:42 PM

Far too much of the background singers. It's like they'd never sung the song before. In high school 70's, I liked Neil Diamond's version.

Posted by: Mark at September 18, 2016 2:35 PM