Suzanne and I

Album: Anna Calvi (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Half Italian singer/guitarist Anna Calvi grew up being exposed to a multitude of genres of music by her music-loving father. She cites the classical composers Ravel and Debussy among her influences and her music has been described as "brooding melodramatic goth-pop." The intensely romantic nature of Calvi's songs, however, is "more abstract" than the one-dimensional eroticism of most pop, she told The Guardian: "Suzanne and I, for example, is about falling asleep, meeting someone in your dream, and never waking up. It's actually about death."
  • Calvi told the NME about her filmic vision, which ensures that the burgeoning drama of tracks like this one haunt long after they've stopped playing. "What usually happens is I listen to a piece of music or I watch a film," she explained, "and I feel really moved by it and it sort of compels me to create something. I feel it in my stomach and then I record it. The melody and the lyrics come out simultaneously. And, of course, after that I sculpt it, but the essence of the song is kind of there crystallised when it first appears out of me."
  • English musician and producer Brian Eno (he was the man twiddling the knobs on Coldplay's Viva La Vida) sung backing vocals on this track.
  • Calvi told The Observer that she drew on My Winnipeg, a surrealist-inflected feature film about director Guy Maddin's home town, for this song. She explained: "There's a film called My Winnipeg about a guy who really wants to leave a town but he can't because everyone keeps falling asleep. It's a really dreamlike film with surreal images of frozen horses in white snow. I had that in mind when I wrote 'Suzanne and I.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)Songwriter Interviews

Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.

Is That Song Public Domain?

Is That Song Public Domain?Fact or Fiction

Are classic songs like "Over The Rainbow" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the public domain?

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Chris Squire of Yes

Chris Squire of YesSongwriter Interviews

One of the most dynamic bass player/songwriters of his time, Chris is the only member of Yes who has been with the band since they formed in 1968.