Listening comprehension
Transcription
Listening comprehension
Listening comprehension We invite you to practise your listening comprehension with Leonard Cohen. We’ve decided to focus on his song ‘Suzanne’, as it is probably his best-known composition. To watch the video, click the ‘Play’ button. When you’re done listening to the song, check the transcript below to evaluate your comprehension. ‘Suzanne’ was inspired by Cohen’s platonic relationship with dancer Suzanne Verdal, who was then married to Armand Vaillancourt, a handsome sculptor and a friend of Leonard Cohen’s. The song’s lyrics describe the rituals that Cohen and Suzanne enjoyed when they met. ‘Suzanne’ is a very spiritual song – it is about the meeting of spirits. In an interview with journalist Kate Saunders, Suzanne Verdal said, “I think the river is the river of life and that river, the St Lawrence River that we shared, tied us together. And it was a union. It was a spirit union.” She continues, “I would always light a candle and serve tea and it would be quiet for several minutes, then we would speak. And I would speak about life and poetry and we’d share ideas.” Suzanne – © Leonard Cohen and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada 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 And you want to travel with her You want to travel blind And you know she can trust you For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind. Yes, and Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water And he spent a long time watching L’espace numérique Go Digital est protégé par le droit d'auteur. Toute reproduction des exercices est interdite. Les professeurs d'anglais sont autorisés à les imprimer pour les utiliser pendant leurs propres cours exclusivement. From his lonesome 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” Oh, but he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone [Come with me now] And you want to travel with him 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 She leads you to the river Ah, she’s 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 Amid the garbage and the flowers There are heroes in the seaweed There are children in the morning They are leaning out for love They will lean that way forever While Suzanne holds the mirror And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind And you know she will find you For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind. Vocabulary a wavelength = une longueur d’ondes blind = à l’aveuglette, sans repère lonesome = déserté drowning = qui se noie forsaken = abandonné, esseulé rags = des loques, des haillons amid = au milieu de, parmi seaweed = les algues L’espace numérique Go Digital est protégé par le droit d'auteur. Toute reproduction des exercices est interdite. Les professeurs d'anglais sont autorisés à les imprimer pour les utiliser pendant leurs propres cours exclusivement.