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"Susie"

Fayik

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I just realized Michael uses the name "Susie" a lot in his songs, why do you think that is? Is there a reason for it? In Superfly Sister he says "Susie likes to agitate," in Blood on the Dancefloor, Susie is the antagonist again, and then of course a whole song built around "Little Susie." Anyone have any theories or explanations?
 
Maybe Michael had a fixation with names in certain albums. Billie Jean is also mentioned in WBSS, "Billie Jean is always talkin' when nobody else is talking."
 
Don't forget about Annie. He sings about her a alot in Smooth Criminal. :p lol
 
Oh and don't forget there is a Susie mention in Heartbreak Hotel as well: Sefra and Sue.

So named women in his songs are:

1. Susie (Heartbreak Hotel, Superfly Sister, Blood on the Dance Floor, Little Susie)
2. Billie Jean (Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin')
3. Diana (Dirty Diana - also notice the name on one card in the Who Is It video)
=3. Annie (Smooth Criminal)
=3. Sefra (Heartbreak Hotel)

Anything else?
 
Fayik;4087219 said:
I just realized Michael uses the name "Susie" a lot in his songs, why do you think that is? Is there a reason for it? In Superfly Sister he says "Susie likes to agitate," in Blood on the Dancefloor, Susie is the antagonist again, and then of course a whole song built around "Little Susie." Anyone have any theories or explanations?
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There are various (real or fictitious) female names on Michael Jackson’s songs.

Other examples (apart from the aforementioned):

Maria
(Maria, You Were The Only One)

Lisa
(Happy Birthday, Lisa)
(Elizabeth I Love You)

So, I don’t think that MJ had a fixation on specific female names.
 
There was a woman who worked at the Motown offices named Billie Jean. I always wondered if Michael got the name from her.
Maybe she was nice to him or he just liked her name.
Maybe somebody named Sue worked there as well. I'll have to ck Berrys bio to see. :)
 
Mike used lots of names in his songs, but true, Susie is repeated a lot...
 
mj_frenzy;4087315 said:
There are various (real or fictitious) female names on Michael Jackson’s songs.

Other examples (apart from the aforementioned):

Maria
(Maria, You Were The Only One)

Lisa
(Happy Birthday, Lisa)
(Elizabeth I Love You)

So, I don’t think that MJ had a fixation on specific female names.
Click to expand...

Well, Maria, You Were The Only One wasn't written by him and the Lisa songs were both written to special occasions where the name was a given (Lisa Simpson, Elizabeth Taylor).
 
I find the name Susie really interesting. From a songwriter's perspective Susie is a great name to use because it's two syllables , so it's great for any type of song but espicially fast upbeat songs, because it rolls of the tongue so effortlessly. He used a lot of two syllable names though, Annie and Sefra. Or maybe he just really liked the name :cheeky:
 
Susie definitely stuck around the longest of all of these ladies, that's for sure! Whereas Sefra got a quick shout out in '81, Billie Jean some major attention but only during the Thriller era, and Annie and Diana only showed up during the Bad era, Susie was there from the late 70s (when he wrote Little Susie) all the way until the late 90s.

It seems like most of the people who got a name check by MJ apart from Liz Taylor and Lisa Simpson were golddiggers, femmes fatales or victims of merciless violence. :lol:
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
I find the name Susie really interesting. From a songwriter's perspective Susie is a great name to use because it's two syllables , so it's great for any type of song but espicially fast upbeat songs, because it rolls of the tongue so effortlessly. He used a lot of two syllable names though, Annie and Sefra. Or maybe he just really liked the name :cheeky:
Click to expand...
The names do work well where they are used. If you sing 'Annie' (or any other two-syllable name) instead of 'Susie' in BotDF, it just does not sound as good, maybe mainly because Susie and 'look' in 'look who took you under' sound more similar than Annie and 'look' would. On the other hand, Susie would not work as well in Smooth Criminal. Annie rolls of the tongue a bit faster and Susie would turn into a bit of a tongue twister at the breakneck speed he spits it out in SC. I don't think it's just because we're so familiar with the songs the way they are.

To me Billie Jean is definitely his most intriguing choice of name!
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
I find the name Susie really interesting. From a songwriter's perspective Susie is a great name to use because it's two syllables , so it's great for any type of song but espicially fast upbeat songs, because it rolls of the tongue so effortlessly. He used a lot of two syllable names though, Annie and Sefra. Or maybe he just really liked the name :cheeky:
Click to expand...

I think this is the most likely explanation.

Plenty other songs by other artists use Susie, don't they? There must be something appealing about it's make-up to a songwriter.
 
I don't remember other Susies but Michael's and Dale Hawkins' Suzie Q, song released in 1957. The Rolling Stones covered it in 1964 and then Credence Clearwater Revival in 1968 in their debut album, which is the version I love the most. I mention this because Suzie Q is the most famous one with that name.

Original version


The Rolling Stones


Credence Clearwater Revival

 
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Well considering that Susie and Annie are quite usual names, maybe he was trying to generalize a certain category of women (femme fatales, etc.)
 
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