Miss Susie

"Miss Lucy had a steamboat" redirects here. For the schoolyard rhyme with a similar name, see Miss Lucy had a baby.

"Miss Susie", also known as "Hello Operator",[1] "Miss Suzy", "Miss Lucy", and many other names,[8] is the name of an American schoolyard rhyme in which each verse leads up to a rude word or profanity which is revealed in the next verse as part of an innocuous word or phrase. Originally used as a jump-rope rhyme, it is now more often sung alone or as part of a clapping game.[9] Hand signs sometimes accompany the song, such as pulling on the bell in the first verse or making a phone gesture in the second.

This song is sometimes combined or confused with "Miss Lucy had a baby", which is sung to the same tune and also served as a jump-rope song. That song developed from verses of much older (and cruder) songs which were most commonly known as "Bang Bang Rosie" in Britain, "Bang Away Lulu" in Appalachia,[10] and "My Lula Gal" in the West.[11] The variants including a woman with an alligator purse urging the baby's mother to vote have been seen as a reference to Susan B. Anthony, an American suffragette and wife,[12] and may be responsible for the steamboat owner's most common name today.

  1. ^ Mayfield, Josh. " Hello Operator" at Inky's Linkies. 3 Apr 2004. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference levi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Tuyere Blasts". Iowa Transit. October 1924.
  4. ^ Yannucci, Lisa. "When Lucy Had a Steam Boat" at Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World. 2014. Accessed 12 Jan 2014. Ms Yannucci credited her version as from Long Island in the 1970s.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference unchainme was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Crowley, John. Endless Things: A Part of Ægypt, pp. 428 ff. Small Beer Press (Northampton), 2007. Accessed 14 Jan 2014.
  7. ^ Schultz, Emily. Joyland, [books.google.com.hk/books?id=A_d0uAikdR4C&pg=PA82 p. 82]. ECW Press (Toronto), 2006. Accessed 14 Jan 2014.
  8. ^ Including Mary,[2] "Oh, it ain't—",[3] "When Lucy had a steamboat",[4] "Lulu had a steamboat",[5] Miss Sophie,[6] and Miss Molly.[7]
  9. ^ Powell, Azizi. "Similarities & Differences between 'Bang Bang Lulu' & 'Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat'" at Pancocojams. 16 Oct 2013. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
  10. ^ Cray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs 2nd ed., p. 173 ff. UIP (Champaign), 1999. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
  11. ^ Logsdon, Guy. The Whorehouse Bells Are Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing, pp. 154 ff. 1995 reprint of UIP (Champaign), 1989. Accessed 13 Jan 2014. (NB: Logsdon's versions are set to the separate tune of the bluegrass traditional "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms".)
  12. ^ Hollihan, Kerrie. Rightfully Ours: How Women Won the Vote, p. 78. Chicago Review Press (Chicago), 2012. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.