Wake Up Little Susie | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: (D/A) D5 | F G F :||
Chorus 1
||: D | D | D F | G F D :||
Wake up, little Susie, wake up.
Wake up, little Susie, wake up.
Verse 1
| G D5 | G |
We’ve both been sound asleep.
| G D5 | G |
Wake up little Susie and weep.
| G D5 | G5 D5 |
The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock.
| G D5 | G |
And we’re in trouble deep. Wake up, little Susie.
| A | G | A | A |
Wake up, little Susie.
Verse 2
| A E | A |
Well, what are we gonna tell your mama?
| A E | A |
What are we gonna tell your pa’?
| A E | A E |
What are we gonna tell our friends when they say
| A N.C | N.C |
“Ooh, la, la”? Wake up, little Susie.
| D | A7 | D | D |
Wake up, little Susie.
Verse 3
| D | D | D | D7 |
Well, I told your mama that we’d be in by ten.
| G | G | G | G |
Well, Susie, baby, looks like we goofed again.
| A | G | A |
Wake up, little Susie. Wake up, little Susie.
| A N.C | D5 | F G F | D5 | F G F |
We gotta go home.
Chorus 2
Wake up, little Susie, wake up.
Wake up, little Susie, wake up.
Verse 4 (as verse 1)
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.
Verse 5 (as verse 2)
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
Outro
||: D F G :|| to fade
Wake Up Little Susie Chords: Learn the progressions
The chords are much more complex in Wake Up Little Susie than I initially anticipated.
We start in the key of D, but “borrow” the IV and V from the key of C. You could also see it as a bIIIx – IV in D.
Over the next verses we are using the I, IV, and V from the key of D, then from the key of A before we go back to D again.
The chorus chords feel like they come from the only part they wrote for their first hit, Bye Bye Love‘s intro. Here are the chorus chords:
||: D (I) | D | D F (bIIIx) | G (IV) F D :||
Next, we have a verse that starts on chord IV, like this:
| G (IV) D5 (I) | G | G D5 | G |
| G D5 | G5 D5 | G D5 | G |
| A (V) | G | A | A |
The genius part is that next, we go to another verse, but the chords are in a new key and move differently too!
| A E | A | A E | A |
| A E | A E | A N.C | N.C |
| D | A7 | D | D |
In the key of A, we go between I and V on a loop, after the stop we go back to the key of D and get ready for another chorus.
There’s a full analysis of this late ’50s smash hit adapted to work on one guitar in a band, including TAB for all sections. I’ve even thrown in a bonus Chet Atkins lick in there!
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Wake Up Little Susie – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Coming back from the fine details of the TAB lesson, this two-page chord chart will be helpful as you take to the stage.
Wake Up Little Susie Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Wake Up Little Susie Chord Chart PDF, page 1 and Wake Up Little Susie Chord Chart PDF, page 2.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to these files: Wake Up Little Susie iReal Pro, page 1 and Wake Up Little Susie iReal Pro, page 2.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, although that doesn’t sound like the best idea to me, perhaps use a capo instead!
Wake Up Little Susie built on evident success!
The Everly Brothers must have thought; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, when they recorded Wake Up Little Susie only six months after their first hit, Bye Bye Love.
Again, written by Mr. and Mrs. Bryant, the similarities are striking, although they’ve taken it further by going through three key changes (detailed above).
The tune went to #1 on all U.S. Billboard charts and #2 in the U.K.
In 1982, Simon & Garfunkel who started as an Everly Brothers tribute act covered it in a live gig and ended up reaching #5 in the Canadian and U.S. charts.
When the duo reunited briefly in 2003, they had a segment of the show dedicated to the Everly Brothers who even appeared as the support act on the tour!
Wake Up Little Susie Chords | Related Pages
Wake Up Little Susie | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Wake Up Little Susie by The Everly Brothers using TAB and chord analysis.
| D | D | D F | G F D |
Wake up, little Susie, wake up…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
The Everly Brothers tunes
Starting out with their family as The Everly Family in the ’40s, The Everly Brothers were soon discovered by Chet Atkins.
Their best tunes include Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have To Do Is Dream, and Cathy’s Clown.
The Everly Brothers on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Wake Up Little Susie chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
