La cantant Roberta Flack va néixer a Black Mountain, als Estats Units, el 10 de febrer de 1937. Va estudiar piano clàssic i cant i va arribar a gravar el seu primer disc als estudis d’Atlantic Records després que el cantant i pianista Les McCann la veiés actuar en un local de jazz de Washington.
El 1973 va publicar el disc Killing me softly (Atlantic Records) on, a més de la cançó que va arribar a ser número u a les llistes i li va reportar dos premis Grammy, Killing Me Softly with His Song, va versionar aquesta cançó del primer disc de Leonard Cohen.
Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river
You can hear the boats go by
And spend the night forever
And you know that she’s half crazy
And 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 want to tell her
That you have no love to give her
She gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
But you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you trust her
She’s touched your perfect body with her mind
Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From a lonely wooden tower
And when He knew for certain
Only drowning men could se Him
He said “All men shall be sailors,
Then, until the sea shall free them”
But He Himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
He was forsaken almost human,
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
But you want to travel with Him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you trust Him
He’s touched you
Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation’s Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbor
And she shows you where to look
A mid the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the river
And children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
They will lean that way for ever
While Suzanne holds her mirror
But you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you trust her
She’s touched your body
Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river
