About The Song
Johnny Cash’s name is one of the most recognizable in the history of country music. As the voice behind classic songs such as “A Boy Named Sue,” Cash was, and still is incredibly popular with millions of people.
Released at the height of his success in 1969, “A Boy Named Sue” quickly climbed to No.1 on Billboard Hot Country Singles. It stayed at the No. 1 spot on the country charts for five straight weeks and even became Cash’s biggest hit on the pop charts, landing at No. 2 on the Billboard 100 chart.
“A Boy Named Sue” was written by Shel Silverstein, which tells the story of a boy whose estranged father left him at the age of three with the burden of a name that is more suited for a girl, “Sue.”
Sue is angry because his name “got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk” and “some gal would giggle.” Life has never been easy for him fighting the ridicule for having a traditionally female name. So, he swore to the “moon and stars” that he would find his father and kill him for giving him such a horrific name.
Several years passed by, and Sue eventually found his father in a bar. He greeted him with one of the best three lines in songwriting history: “My name is Sue. How do you do? Now you’re gonna die!”
A physical altercation ensued, resulting in a knife cutting off part of Sue’s ear. Sue hit his father hard enough to break a chair on his teeth before his father revealed why he gave him his name.
“Son, this world is rough,” the song explained. “And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough. And I knew I wouldn’t be there to help ya along. So I give ya that name, and I said goodbye. I knew you’d have to get tough or die. And it’s the name that helped to make you strong.” Sue found himself unable to go through with his father’s assassination, and the two ended up settling their differences.
The unique tale of a young man’s quest for revenge definitely caught the country fan’s attention. To make it even more unique, Cash actually recorded the song live during his 1969 concert at California’s San Quentin State Prison for his At San Quentin album. The song’s live San Quentin version became Cash’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his only top ten single there.
The unique tale of a young man’s quest for revenge definitely caught the country fan’s attention. To make it even more unique, Cash actually recorded the song live during his 1969 concert at California’s San Quentin State Prison for his At San Quentin album. The song’s live San Quentin version became Cash’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his only top ten single there.
While it is not entirely sure why songwriter Shel Silverstein picked the name “Sue,” it is believed that the name was inspired by the well-known attorney Sue Hicks. Hicks was named after his mother, who died a few days after giving birth to him. He was most famous for his “Scopes Trial” role in 1925, where he played as co-investigator and prosecutor.
Silverstein attended a judicial conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where Hicks was a speaker. Apparently, this is where Silverstein got the idea for the song’s title as the prosecutor’s name struck him as oddly feminine.
Though Johnny Cash later said that he was not aware that Silverstein had only one person in mind when he wrote the song, he sent Hicks two autographed pictures and two albums with the inscription, “To Sue, how do you do?”
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Lyrics
Thank you
Well, my daddy left home when I was three
Didn’t leave very much to my mom and me
Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue
Well, he must’ve thought that it was quite a joke
And I got a lot of laughs from a lots of folk
Seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle and I’d turn red
And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head
I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue
But I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keener
Roam from town to town to hide my shame
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I’d search the honky tonks and bars
And kill that man that gave me that awful name
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry
Thought I’d stop and have myself a brew
At an old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table, dealing stud
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had
Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said, “My name is Sue, how do you do?
Now you gonna die”, that’s what I told him
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
Then I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the walls and into the street
Kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer
Well, I tell you, I’ve fought tougher men
But I really can’t remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
Well, I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
And he reached for his gun but I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin’ at me and I saw him smile
And he said, “Son, this world is rough
And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along
So I give you that name, and I said goodbye
And I knew you’d have to get tough or die
It’s that name that helped to make you strong”
He said, “Now you just fought one heck of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right to kill me now
And I wouldn’t blame you if you do
But you ought to thank me, before I die
For the gravel in ya gut and the spit in ya eye
‘Cause I’m the son of a bitch that named you Sue”
What could I do?
Well, I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
I called him my pa, and he called me his son
Come away with a different point of view
And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win, and if I ever have a-
Well, if I ever have a boy, I’ll name him
Frank or George or Bill or Tom, anything but Sue
I don’t want him go around, man call him Sue all his life
That’s a horrible thing to do to a boy trying to get a hold in the world
Named a boy a Sue