Oh Susanna was the recording name of Canadian-American alt-country musician… Read Full Bio ↴Oh Susanna was the recording name of Canadian-American alt-country musician Suzie Ungerleider (born in Northampton, MA, and raised in Vancouver) from 1995 to 2021. Performing under the name Oh Susanna, alluding to the classic American folk song "Oh! Susanna" to protect her privacy, Ungerleider announced in 2021 that she was retiring the Oh Susanna stage name after learning more about the complicated racial history of the song "Oh! Susanna".

Ungerleider played her first show under the name Oh Susanna at the Railway Club in Vancouver in July 1995, and released her first independent recording, a seven-song EP, in 1997. Around this time, she decided to relocate to Toronto after attending Blue Rodeo's Stardust Picnic festival. In 1999, she released her full-length debut, Johnstown, and toured Canada and the United States with fellow musicians Veda Hille and Kinnie Starr, in what they dubbed the "Scrappy Bitch Tour".

At the 19th Genie Awards in 1999, she won the Genie Award for Best Original Song, for her song "River Blue" from the film The Fishing Trip. She subsequently released eight more recordings, Sleepy Little Sailor (2001), Oh Susanna (2003), Short Stories (2007), Soon the Birds (2011), Namedropper (2014), A Girl in Teen City (2017), and Decemberly (2018) a holiday EP with Michael Johnston.

In 2021, she announced that she was retiring the Oh Susanna stage name after learning more about the complicated racial history of the song "Oh! Susanna". She is now releasing under her own name.

Discography:
Oh Susanna EP (1997)
Johnstown (1999)
Sleepy Little Sailor (2001)
Oh Susanna (2003)
Short Stories (2007)
Soon The Birds (2011)
Namedropper (2014)
A Girl in Teen City (2017)
Decemberly (2018) (with Michael Johnston)

Beauty Boy
Oh Susanna Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I crawled for you
Hands and knees turn blue
But your cruelty soon told me
Nothing would do

Punishment
Clothes and rags I rent
But nothing would stop my

Heart's lament

Why do you break me
Force me, forsake me?
When you love me not hate me
My beauty boy

A treasure chest
Under waves of wet
Part to reveal
My sweet secret

Take my flesh
Steal away my breath
Still a foolish hope follows
Wise regret

When will you love me?
In a thousand years only

But you never will own me
My beauty boy

Overall Meaning

In the song "Beauty Boy" by Oh Susanna, the singer expresses her deep love for someone who does not feel the same way about her. The opening lines of the song convey her commitment to this individual, going so far as to crawl on her hands and knees for him, yet all her efforts go unrecognized as the lyrics state that "your cruelty soon told me nothing would do." The singer's heart breaks, and she expresses an aching lament as a result of her actions.

The second verse describes how the singer continues to punish herself for not being able to gain the affection of the person she loves. She tears her clothes and rents them into rags, though still nothing makes her heart's lament stop. The bridge questions why this person would force the singer to break herself and forsake herself, even when she loves him and he shows only hatred. The singer calls out her underground emotions, conjuring up an image of her inner treasure chest that remains hidden behind the waves of emotion.

The third and final verse speaks of the singer's vulnerability and longing, offering it up to her beloved. Despite her foolish hope, the realization dawns upon her with a sense of wise regret. The song concludes with the singer coming to terms that the person she loves will never come to own her, as they do not hold any reciprocal love. "Beauty Boy" is a powerful song that captures the pain and longing of unrequited love.

Line by Line Meaning

I crawled for you
I humbled myself and went to great lengths for you

Hands and knees turn blue
I suffered physical pain for you

But your cruelty soon told me
Your unkindness made it clear to me

Nothing would do
That nothing I did was enough

Punishment
I was punished

Clothes and rags I rent
I had to resort to tattered clothing

But nothing would stop my
But nothing could take away my

Heart's lament
Deep sadness and regret

Why do you break me
Why do you hurt me

Force me, forsake me?
Compel me and then abandon me?

When you love me not hate me
When you are not capable of loving me but instead hate me