A Boy Named Sue
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| "A Boy Named Sue" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Johnny Cash | ||
| Released | 1969 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | February 24, 1969 | |
| Genre | Country Talking blues |
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| Length | 3:44 | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Writer(s) | Shel Silverstein | |
| Certification | ||
| Audio sample | ||
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"A Boy Named Sue" is a country song, written by Shel Silverstein and 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. The song became Cash's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending three weeks at #2 in 1969; it also topped the country music and adult contemporary charts that same year.[1]
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[edit] Plot and reaction
The song 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, commonly a feminine name, which regularly resulted in the young man suffering from ridicule and bullying.
Sue would later find his father and confront him, resulting in 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!"
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, an early form of rap.
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.[2]
[edit] Censorship
Late 1960s public decorum being what it was, the term "son-of-a-bitch" in 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.
Some censored albums:
- Essential Johnny Cash
- Johnny Cash - 16 Biggest Hits
- At San Quentin [Original LP release]
Some uncensored albums:
- The Legend of Johnny Cash
- At San Quentin (The Complete 1969 Concert) [Remaster]
- At San Quentin - Legacy Edition
[edit] 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.[3]
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 what was to become known as the Scopes Trial. Sue was named after his mother who died after giving birth to him.[4]
In his autobiography[5] Cash wrote that he had just received the song and only read over it a couple of times. It was included in that concert to try it out; he didn't know the words and on the filmed recording, he can be seen regularly referring to a piece of paper. Cash was surprised at how well the song went over with the audience – the rough, spontaneous performance with sparse accompaniment was included in the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, ultimately becoming one of Cash's biggest hits.
According to Shel Silverstein's biographer Mitch Myers, it was June Carter Cash who encouraged her husband to perform the song. Silverstein introduced it to them at what they called a "Guitar Pull," where musicians would pass a guitar around and play their songs.[6]
[edit] Cover versions
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
French singer Joe Dassin made a French version of this song called "Un garçon nommé Suzy" in the album L'Amerique in 1970.
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)."
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.
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)."
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)".
Belgian cabaret duet Kommil Foo released a Dutch cover version called, "Man genaamd Marianne (A Man Named Marianne)," in 2006.
Jan Rot has translated and covered the song in Dutch as "Mijn naam is Mien" (My name is Mien) for the album An en Jan gaan landelijk.[when?]
Orthodox Jewish singer Country Yossi recorded a Jewish version of the song called "A Boy Named Zlateh".[when?]
Pop punk band All covered "A Boy Named Sue", releasing it on the CD single for "Dot."
French singer Sanseverino also made a French version of this song in the album "Les Faux Talbins", but which has the original title.
[edit] References in popular culture
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This "In popular culture" section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivia references. (January 2010) |
- The Salem, Oregon band Boy Named Sue[7] gets their name from the Johnny Cash version of the song.
- The 1992 song Crackerman by Stone Temple Pilots features the lines: Trippin' as I'm thinkin' 'Bout a boy, his name was Sue.
- 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.
- A 2001 documentary, A Boy Named Sue, whose protagonist is transgender, takes the song's name and incorporates it in the soundtrack.
- A Boy Named Sue: Gender and Country Music is the title of a 2004 book about the role of the gender in American country music.[8]
- The character Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory was born with the name Susan. An episode of the series is titled "A Boy Named Susan".
- Jane Morgan recorded Martin Mull's parody "A Girl Named Johnny Cash" in 1970.
- UK Punk band Verbal Warning have recorded a song called "A Ploy Named Sue" about the American no win-no fee compensation culture that has sprung up in the UK.
| Preceded by "Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single August 23, 1969 - September 27, 1969 (five weeks) |
Succeeded by "Tall Dark Stranger" by Buck Owens |
[edit] References
- ^ The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996
- ^ Sonic Uke: Chords - Father of a Boy Named Sue, Shel Silverstein
- ^ Bergmann, Eugene B.: Excelsior, You Fathead! The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd, 2005.
- ^ "Johnny Cash Is Indebted to a Judge Named Sue." The New York Times, 12 July 1970, p. 66.
- ^ Cash, Johnny: Cash: The Autobiography 1997.
- ^ "A Boy Named Sue Songfacts". songfacts. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3258. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ http://www.myspace.com/suetheboy
- ^ Kristine M. McCusker, Diane Pecknold (2004) A Boy Named Sue: Gender and Country Music, University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1578066786.
