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)
Crooked Down The Road
Oh Susanna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crippled boot and a broken heart
Stuck out here in Smiley
Oh God, I'm so alone
Come crooked down the road
I got an idiot eye and Indian hips
Conhouse lips and a wino's smile
Stuck out here in Youngstown
Killing myself slow
So I'll hitch a rattletrap boat
Come crooked down the road
I got a jacket of smoke and a charcoal lung
Dumb tongue and I'm down-at-the-heels, Joe
Stuck in Stony Mountain
Don't know which way to go
So I'll take the first morning coach
Come crooked down the road
The lyrics of Oh Susanna's Crooked Down The Road talk about the struggles and hardships of a person who is trying to find their way in the world. The lines "I've got a carved arm and a black tooth, crippled boot and a broken heart" indicate that the person has physical and emotional scars. They feel alone and disconnected from the world, which is illustrated by the line "Oh God, I'm so alone." The person feels like they need to keep moving forward, hence the line "I will roam hobo, come crooked down the road."
The second verse talks about how the person's appearance is not considered conventional. The line "I got an idiot eye and Indian hips, conhouse lips and a wino's smile" suggests that they are judged for their physical appearance, but they have learned to smile through it all. The third verse talks about the person's health, specifically their lung problems which are symbolized by the "jacket of smoke and the charcoal lung." They are also struggling with speech issues, which is represented by the phrase "dumb tongue." They are lost and don't know which direction to take, but they remain hopeful in that they plan to "take the first morning coach, come crooked down the road."
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I've got a carved arm and a black tooth
Despite the physical deformities I have, I keep moving forward in life
Crippled boot and a broken heart
I am wearing a boot suitable for disabled people and also nursing a heartbreak
Stuck out here in Smiley
I am currently in a location that doesn't bring any joy or happiness to me
Oh God, I'm so alone
I feel lonely and abandoned
I will roam hobo
I plan on wandering aimlessly like a homeless person to find solace
Come crooked down the road
No matter how twisted or screwed up my path may seem, I will go down it without hesitation
I got an idiot eye and Indian hips
I have visible physical attributes that may be considered unusual or abnormal
Conhouse lips and a wino's smile
My lips are chapped and wrinkled due to exposure to the sun, which makes me resemble a drunkard at times
Stuck out here in Youngstown
I feel trapped in this particular town with nowhere else to go
Killing myself slow
I am gradually harming myself mentally and physically over time
So I'll hitch a rattletrap boat
I will try anything, even a rundown boat, to escape this situation
I got a jacket of smoke and a charcoal lung
I suffer due to the effects of smoking on my body and have a polluted lung
Dumb tongue and I'm down-at-the-heels, Joe
My tongue is numb and I am impoverished
Stuck in Stony Mountain
I am currently trapped in a rocky, desolate area
Don't know which way to go
I am lost and have no idea what the right decision to take at the moment is
So I'll take the first morning coach
I will board the first available transport in the morning to hopefully get to a better place
Come crooked down the road
No matter how strange or difficult the journey may be, I am willing to take a chance on it
Contributed by Wyatt S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.