Why Connor Chose That Karaoke Song In Succession Season 4 Episode 2

Now, there’s no shame in a corny, emotional round of karaoke — but you have to build towards it and assess the vibes. No one goes to Karaoke to watch a lonely man sing a sad ballad. As the first singer of the night, Connor immediately becomes the wet blanket, and his siblings find his pity party excruciating. Ironically, even though he’s campaigned himself for POTUS, Connor has always been the Roy sibling with the least going on, and here he is at his most pathetic breaking point. As Roman said, “This is Guantanamo-level s***.”

So why “Famous Blue Raincoat”? On the surface, Leonard Cohen’s song is about betrayal and infidelity; its lyrics are written in the form of a letter addressed to a man Cohen believes his wife is leaving him behind for. Throughout this episode, while Willa runs away from Connor, he’s been increasingly paranoid that she has escaped to be with another man, or perhaps jumped off a bridge (his siblings notably don’t reassure him that he’s overreacting). That’s probably enough explanation for why Connor chose this song as it is, but there’s also a mysterious layer to Cohen’s track that feels narratively fitting as well.

Though it is structured like a letter, the lyrics are vague and ambiguous enough that it’s often debated whether or not the narrative of the song is literal or imaginary. Is it a man that has taken Cohen’s wife and led her astray, or is the man a construction of his own mind? Maybe the man is a representation of fate itself. Cohen is blaming some force that is seducing his wife away, but there’s an ironic denial that his relationship was on shaky ground as it was.