Last night my wife and I heard “Susanna” on our sound system sung by the Italian Adriano Celentano. Even though we both know and love The Art Company’s version even better, we fully enjoyed the tune. "Suzanne" (titled as "Susanna" for the English version) was first released in Dutch in 1981, it became a major hit in the Netherlands and Belgium, standing out from typical Dutch-language pop at the time.
It came from the Dutch band VOF de Kunst, also known as The Art Company, that released the English version in 1984. Creative, in its use of audience participation, it had a slightly rebellious, artsy edge, fitting the post-punk/new wave era while still accessible. The song reached number one on the Single Top 100 in the Netherlands, and did well everywhere else, but France.
As for me, it’s a song totally emblematic of my never-ending struggle with women when I was coming of age even though it was released more than a decade later. It was also the result of great social observation! The constant clumsiness, awkwardness and counterproductive approach to seduction that was mine and that heralded my youth and often sow discouragement, despair and total misunderstanding of my botched social development as a young adult!
I could expand further and bore you with familiar details, but if you’ve been young like me in the 60s and early 70s you can see where I’m coming from. So without going any deeper you can gauge the meaning that song still evokes in me….
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