About The Song
“Wake Up Little Susie” was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and recorded by the Everly Brothers on August 16, 1957, at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville. Released on September 2, 1957, by Cadence Records with “Maybe Tomorrow” as the B-side, the single appeared on the duo’s debut album *The Everly Brothers* the following year. It followed their earlier hit “Bye Bye Love” and quickly became one of their most successful recordings.
The song reached number one on the Billboard pop chart and spent seven weeks at the top of the country chart. It also topped the R&B chart and climbed to number two in the United Kingdom. The record’s broad appeal across multiple formats confirmed the Everly Brothers as major crossover stars in 1957 and helped establish their distinctive close-harmony sound on a national scale.
The lyric describes a teenage couple who fall asleep at a drive-in movie and wake up long after curfew. The boy worries about the trouble they will face with Susie’s parents and the damage to their reputations. Although the story is essentially innocent, some radio stations in Boston banned the song at the time because the idea of two teenagers spending the night together was considered too suggestive.
Producer Archie Bleyer oversaw the session, which featured the brothers’ tightly blended vocals and the distinctive guitar work associated with the Nashville sound of the period. Chet Atkins contributed guitar, supporting the clean, rhythmic drive that characterized many of the Everlys’ early Cadence recordings. The arrangement is concise and energetic, matching the urgency of the story.
The success of “Wake Up Little Susie” solidified the partnership between the Everly Brothers and the Bryant songwriting team. It became one of four number-one hits for the duo in the late 1950s and early 1960s and has remained a staple of their catalog. Later covers, including a live version by Simon and Garfunkel, kept the song in circulation for new audiences.
Within the rock and country music of the late 1950s, the Everly Brothers’ recording of “Wake Up Little Susie” stands as a defining early hit. Its chart dominance, mild controversy, and lasting place in the duo’s repertoire have secured its reputation as one of the era’s most recognizable crossover singles.
Video
Lyric
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, what are we gonna tell your mama?
What are we gonna tell your pa?
What are 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, what are we gonna tell your mama
What are we gonna tell your pa?
What are we gonna tell our friends
When they say, “Ooh la la!”
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie