Miss Susie Had a Steamboat: A Critical Analysis of a Schoolyard Rhyme

I first heard Miss Susie in 1984 when I was in second grade. At the age of eight, I remember singing about Miss Susie with great gusto. I especially enjoyed singing it in front of my teachers, since in my school swearing was strictly forbidden. I loved the delicious feeling I got when I crept right up to one of these naughty words and then got away with saying it.

I again encountered Miss Susie my sophomore year of college in Folklore class. When I thought more about it in analytical terms, I discovered much deeper levels of meaning than I had in second grade. In class we discussed how the metrical structure allowed the delicious "creeping-up" on a taboo word. However, there is more to the meaning of the rhyme which can be gleaned from its structure. I began to ask around, and I noticed some fascinating elements within the evolution of this rhyme. Using usenet newsgroups, I got in touch with various people who had learned the rhyme in their childhoods.

Through its evolution the rhyme has undergone many changes. However, the meter and rhyme scheme stay pure in all the Versions. The meter of the rhyme allows for the taboo words, but the type of swear used in each new stanza has changed, as has the imagery. The way that curiosity, imagery and taboo
words have progressed led to the feminization, or a feminine quality of the rhyme which has become a source of feminine unity.

In my essay, I have discussed how the metrical structure of the rhyme allows the person reciting to sneak up on a taboo word and delight in "almost" swearing. I then discussed how although meter has remained true, the successive endings have picked up more imagery and a narrower type of taboo, namely that newer rhymes mirror children's curiosity about sex. Lastly, I want to focus on the fact that the rhymes are usually recited by women, and because of this gender divison, they have served as a unifying entity for young women.