Song Demo: “Go! Susanna”

 

 

As a songwriter I hear “Go! Susanna” as one of the most fun songs a band could ever do. The song is taken from my novel, The Energy Caper, or Nixon in the Sky With Diamonds, where it is 1971, in Paris. A 24 year-old American student, working as a go-go dancer under the name Susanna, La Cowgirl Américain, is the toast of the notorious Place Pigalle. She becomes involved with Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, who team up with the Allman Brothers Band, and calling themselves The AllmaDoors, make a rocked-out version with updated lyrics of what is arguably the most famous American melody of all time. Perfect for any country band, but in my head I hear it really kicking ass with the Southern Rock sound and energy of the Allman Brothers behind it. Guaranteed to fill the dance floor.

 

 

“Go! Susanna”

By

Scotty and the Skeptics

© Skeptico Music––BMI • WilliamScottMorrison.com

 

Here is the scene from the novel when she hears the finished song for the first time, having fled Paris without telling Morrison her real name and hoping to remain incognito.

Jenny heard a gang of boys come rumbling up the stairs and race down the hall. Her nephew Dom burst in and thrust a 45 record into her hands. “Aunt Jenny, look what Rusty gave me! The Doors joined the Allman Brothers!”

She gasped when she saw the title: “Go! Susannah.” The record jacket showed the two bands with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Morrison, cocky as ever in a beret and skin-tight leather pants, was proffering a bouquet of roses. Next to him, a grinning Duane Allman, in jeans and a cowboy hat, straddled a motorcycle. On a nearby park bench, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were casually blowing soap bubbles. She couldn’t help chuckle at the band’s name: Les AllmaDoors & Amis.

“Let’s go!” Dom shouted, snatching the record from her as he and his friends went thundering up the third-floor stairs. She was breathless, unable to move, remembering the raunchy lyrics they’d sung as she twirled tassels in the go-go cage. The first bars of the famous melody drifted down the stairs on Allman’s honey-sweet slide-guitar. She raced into the hall to hear better just as the two bands kicked in full-blast and Morrison growled:

Well I went over to ol’ Paree
Just lookin’ for some fun
And when I saw her in that go-go cage
My heart came undone
In her cowgirl hat and fancy boots
Her tassels all a’twirl
No woman could be half as cute
She’s a go-go-go cowgirl.

She knew a hit song when she heard one, and this had number-one-with-a-bullet tattooed all over it: the most famous melody in American history, rocked out with first-rate musicianship and an extra-heavy dose of star power. They even cleaned up the “With a hard-on to Paree” line for the radio. This song was good.

Excerpt from: The Energy Caper, or Nixon in the Sky With Diamonds. by William Scott Morrison (2006):

 

 

“Go! Susanna”

 

Well I went over to old Paree

Just looking for some fun

And when I saw her in a go-go cage

My heart came undone

In her cowgirl hat and fancy boots

Her tassels all a’ twirl

She stole my heart and sealed my fate

She’s a go-go-go cowgirl

 

I’m singing go Susanna

Go-go-go for me

I came all the way from California

Just to love you in Paree!”

 

Where ya from what’s your daddy do

Can I see you after work

No woman could be half as cute

I’m gonna love you for all I’m worth

 

I’m singing go Susanna

Go-go-go for me

I came all the way from California

Just to love you in Paree!”

 

She took me to a place she knew

We made love till the crack of dawn

But then I nodded off and when I woke up

Susannah she was gone

She left a note sayin’ it was fun

But she just had to go

She was headed out to parts unknown

And big time rock and roll

 

Don’t go Susanna

Don’t go-go-go from me

I swear that I’m in love with you

Don’t let me die here in Paree!

 

Well I had a dream the other night

That gave me quite a chill

I dreamed I saw Susanna

Singin’ down at Harry’s Grill

A microphone was in her hand

A tear was in her eye

She said I’m singin’ in a band

I said Susannah don’t you cry

 

Come go Susanna

Go-go-go with me

I swear that I’m in love with you

Let’s run off to Paree

Come go Susanna

Go-go-go with me

I swear that I’m in love with you

Will you marry me