Why does Phil Collins feel so good if he just says the word “Sussudio” in the song of the same name?
I always thought it was a woman’s name. A STUPID name. But still…
-L
Okay, this brings up another question …
I’ve heard a story that Phil came up with the tune for “Sussudio” and wrote the song without having a title in mind. He supposedly just used the word “sussudio” to fill out the syllable count until he could find a good four-syllable woman’s name to plug in the song. Somebody heard him noodling around with it and told him that it was fine the way it was, so he recorded it with the nonsense word.
Any truth to this?
Wasn’t “Sussudio” the one he got busted on for plagiarism, or whatever it is when you steal someone else’s song? I seem to remember that Prince (or maybe just Warner Brothers) took him to court for stealing “1999.” If so, I think any statements he makes regarding “just needing to fill in the syllable count” should be looked at with a jaundiced eye, to say the least!
I remember seeing him on Letterman back when the song was popular; when Letterman asked him about it, he said he just made the word up. Phil said something to the effect that, if Little Richard can do it with Tutti Frutti, why can’t I?
It’s supposedly just a noise…a percussive noise. Collins is a percussionist. If you’re a percussionist, or you’ve heard one talk, you’ve heard sounds much like that come out of either your or his/her mouth.
I seem to recall (no cites, no autographs, no pictures) having heard in an interview waaaaaaay back then (say, 1986) someone asking Mr. Collins who “Sussudio” was, and him replying that it was just a sound effect.
If I were him, I’d be wishing I’d put a girl’s name in there just to be shut of this nonsense.
It was just to let us know that he wrote the song in his stu-stu-studio 
Ducks and runs.