I'd be much obliged if anyone could tell me what a "streetsuss serenade" is. Any clues, folks?

One of my favorites. I've never liked the Indigo Girls because of their version of this song. I could never forgive them.

Funny you mention them. Theirs is the only version I knew existed of this song until a year or two ago. Of course loved this one immediately upon hearing it for the first time, with all that yelling. Yikes.

Lucky760: I always thought it was "sings the streets a serenade".

That said, "suss" is a slang word which in most contexts means "to figure out". For example: "He's got that problem sussed." So, "street-suss" could be a synonym for "street-smart". "Suss" can also be used to mean "suspicious", but that seems way out of context in this case.

Thanks for the input, Baqueta. I also always thought it was "sings the streets a serenade," but when searching for the complete lyric listing I've found that "streetsuss" appears the only form ever used. After a little more searching, I feel certain that you've pegged it; "street-suss" seems a fairly common term.

From http://www.uri-geller.com/rage.htm :

Robert McNeil finds some aggressive street-suss being directed at the Festival luvvies. ...
"Meanwhile, the bar-room hangouts of the Edinburgh habitues resound to the sound of bitchily dismissive critiques of a 'scuzzy' circus which markets itself with an aggressive sense of street-suss, and which wins popular support by the barrel-load, but scores 'nil points' in Edinburgh's teaming enclaves of fey, androgynous arty-farty folk."

Main Entry: suss
Pronunciation: 's&s
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: by shortening & alteration from suspect
1 chiefly British : FIGURE OUT -- usually used with out
2 chiefly British : to inspect or investigate so as to gain more knowledge -- usually used with out

I've always loved this song, but finally seeing the video actually makes me like it a little less. That's just not how it looks in my head!
It would rock if they just used that montage from Empire records.

The Killers cover this song on their new album, Sawdust.

It seems Brandon Flowers isn't familiar with the term "street suss" as in his version he says "sings the streets a serenade."

[edit]
Here's The Killers' version.

Having just learned the term from Richard Dawkins, I can safely say that this is just Lord Privy Seals all over the place.

Still, great, great song.

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