“A Boy Named Sue”
Single by Johnny Cash
Recorded	February 24, 1969
Genre	Country
Length	3:44
Writer(s)	Shel Silverstein
Certification
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"A Boy Named Sue" is a country song, written by Shel Silverstein and popularly sung by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash was at the height of his popularity when he recorded this song live at San Quentin State Prison in California. The concert was recorded for broadcast by Granada Television on February 24, 1969 and for the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, it shot to #1 on the Country Charts and #2 on the Pop Charts in the U.S. A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... “Golden record” redirects here. ... Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. ... Sheldon Alan Shel Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of childrens books. ... For the song of the same name, recorded by Tracy Byrd and later by Jason Aldean, see Johnny Cash (song). ... The sprawling San Quentin prison complex. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... At San Quentin is a recording of a live concert given by Johnny Cash to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison. ...

Plot and reaction

It tells the preposterous yet moving tale of a young man's quest for revenge on an absent father whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue, traditionally a girl's name. The name was the cause of endless ridicule as the young man was growing up. As the years went on, Sue grew big, strong and fearsome from all the fights he got into with bullies. Look up Susan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

At the climax of the song, Sue finds and confronts his father, and the two get into a vicious brawl. After the two have beaten each other almost senseless, Sue's father admits that the name was given to him as an act of love: because he knew he would not be there for his son, Sue's father gave him that name to make sure that he grew up strong. Learning this, Sue forgives his father and they have an emotional reconciliation.

With his lesson learned, Sue closes the song with an announcement: "And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him . . . Bill or George, any damn thing but Sue! I still hate that name!"

Years later Silverstein wrote a follow-up named "The Father of a Boy Named Sue" in which he tells the old man's point of view of the story.^[1]

Late 1960s public decorum being what it was, the line "I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue!" was censored in the radio version, and the final line was edited to take out the "damn". Both the edited and unedited versions are available on various CDs.

The song has an unusual A-A-C B-B-C rhyme scheme, broken only to mark the dramatic midpoint and comic ending, and is full of vivid images such as "he kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile". The song is mostly recitation rather than conventional singing. Rap redirects here. ...

Inspiration

The core story of the song was inspired by humorist Jean Shepherd, a close friend of Shel Silverstein who was often taunted as a child because of his feminine-sounding name.^[2] Jean Shepherd posed as Frederick R. Ewing on the back cover of Ballantines I, Libertine (1956). ... Sheldon Alan Shel Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of childrens books. ...

The title might have been inspired by the male attorney Sue K. Hicks of Madisonville, Tennessee, a friend of John Scopes who agreed to be a prosecutor in the Scopes Trial.^{[citation needed]} Sue was named after his mother who died after giving birth to him.^{[citation needed]} However, while this may have inspired Silverstein to write the poem, there may have been another reason why Johnny Cash recorded it. Johnny Cash was a fan of popular western novelist, Zane Grey, whose first name at birth was "Pearl". Madisonville is a town. ... John Thomas Scopes (August 3, 1900–October 21, 1970), a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee at the age of 24, was charged on May 25, 1925 with violating Tennessees Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. ... The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries adopting the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. ... The Scopes Trial (, often called the Scopes Monkey Trial) was an American legal case that tested a law passed on March 13, 1925, which forbade the teaching, in any state-funded educational establishment in Tennessee, of any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught... Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and pulp fiction that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. ...

In his autobiography ^[3] Cash wrote that the he had just received the song and only read it over a couple of times. It was included in that concert to try it out; he didn't know the words. (He can be seen on the video regularly referring to a piece of paper.) He was surprised at how well the song went over with the audience – which is why this rough, spontaneous performance with sparse accompaniment was included in the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, ultimately becoming one of Cash's biggest hits.

Cover versions

French singer Joe Dassin made a french version of this song called "Un garçon nommé Suzy" in the album "L'Amerique" in 1970 Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (November 5, 1938 – August 20, 1980) was a French-speaking American expatriate musician. ...

German comedian and singer/songwriter Mike Krüger recorded the song as early as 1975 in a German language version called, "Ein Junge namens Susi (A boy named Susi)." Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1999 American singer/musician Joshua James covered the song on the album Tanked Up and Derailed. It was done in a style known as Psychobilly. Though it had moderate sales, it failed to make the charts in the United States. Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Joshua James is an American musician currently based in Portland, Oregon. ... Tanked up and Derailed is the first full length album by Joshua James on Old Freight Rail Records. ... Psychobilly is a genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. ...

In 2004 the Dutch (Zeeuws-Brabantse) band Bennie Hek en De Houdoe's covered the song. They sang it in their own dialect (Zeeuws) and named it, "Un hast die a Truus heet (A boy named Truus)." Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Zeeuws can refer to the following dialects: a Dutch accent spoken in other parts of Zeeland, the Netherlands The West Flemish language as spoken in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the Netherlands This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Belgian cabaret singer Wouter Deprez made a West-Flamisch version of the song in 2005. That song has the name, "An jonge genoamd An (A boy named An)". National motto: Dutch: Eendracht maakt macht; French: Lunion fait la force; German: Einigkeit macht stark (English: Strength lies in unity) Official language Dutch, French, German Capital Brussels Largest City Brussels King Albert II Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 148th 30,528 km² 6. ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue — a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Belgian cabaret duet Kommil Foo released a Dutch cover version called, "Man genaamd Marianne (A Man Named Marianne)," in 2006. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue — a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Legacy in popular culture

In the 1996 movie Swingers, featuring Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, the character Sue played by Patrick Van Horn is said to have been named by a father who was an obsessive Cash fan. For the sexual lifestyle, see swinging. ... Jonathan K. Favreau (born on October 19, 1966) is an American actor and director. ... Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American film actor. ... Patrick Van Horn (b. ...

A 2001 documentary, A Boy Named Sue whose protagonist is transgender, takes the song's name, and incorporates it in the soundtrack. A transwoman with XY written on her hand, at a protest in Paris, October 1, 2005. ...

A Boy Named Sue is mentioned in Stephen King's The Dark Tower Series A Boy Named Sue is mentioned in the Jimmy Neutron Episode The Great Egg Heist. "A Boy Named Sue: Gender and Country Music" is the title of a 2004 book about the role of the gender in American Country / Western music^[4] For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and be more accessible to a general audience, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about the character. ...

Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory was born with the name Susan. An episode of the series is titled "A Boy Named Susan" Dee Dee redirects here. ...

References