Rock History

1957 – The Everly Brothers had their first No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Wake Up Little Susie’, (a No.2 hit in the UK).

LYRICS:

Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
We’ve both been sound asleep, wake up, little Susie, and weep
The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock, and we’re in trouble deep
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

Whatta we gonna tell your mama
Whatta we gonna tell your pa
Whatta we gonna tell our friends when they say “ooh-la-la”
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

I told your mama that you’d be in by ten
Well Susie baby looks like we goofed again
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, we gotta go home

Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
The movie wasn’t so hot, it didn’t have much of a plot
We fell asleep, our goose is cooked, our reputation is shot
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

Whatta we gonna tell your mama
Whatta we gonna tell your pa
Whatta we gonna tell our friends when they say “ooh-la-la”
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie

“Wake Up Little Susie” is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957.

The song is best known in a recording by The Everly Brothers, issued by Cadence Records as catalog number 1337. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Pop and Country charts and the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for lyrics that—at the time—were considered suggestive.  It got to #2 on the United Kingdom song charts. The song is ranked #311 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Among notable musical groups performing covers of the song are Simon and Garfunkel and the Grateful Dead. During Simon and Garfunkel’s “Old Friends” tour in 2003-2004, they performed this song and others in a segment with the Everly Brothers, who toured in support. Simon and Garfunkel have cited the Everly Brothers as strong influences on their own music. Their live version of “Wake Up Little Susie” reached #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. The musical duo Evan and Jaron also recorded a version of the song on their album, “52 Sundays.”

In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Governor George W. Bush named “Wake Up Little Susie” as his favorite song, erroneously claiming it was by Buddy Holly. Holly never recorded the song.

In 2008 a part of the song was sung in the bluegrass version of The Raconteurs’ Old Enough, featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe.
Song Premise

The song is written from the point of view of a high school boy to his girlfriend, Susie. In the song, the two go out on a date to a drive-in movie theater, only to fall asleep during the movie. They do not wake up until 4 o’clock in the morning, well after the 10 o’clock curfew. They then contemplate the reactions of her parents and their friends.

Although banned in such places as Boston, the song does not state that Susie and her boyfriend had sexual relations. Indeed, it strongly implies that they did not: the couple simply fell asleep because they were bored by the film.

Tags: Everly Brothers
1950s, Agents & Lawyers, Albums/Singles that Rock, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Industry, lyrics, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes, YouTube
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