Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
Now I don't blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.
Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I'd search the honky tonks and bars and kill
that man that gave me that awful name.
But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I'd thought i'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and 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
and I knew the 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're gonna die." Yeah, that's what I told him.
Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.
I tell you I've fought tougher men but I really can't remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin' and then I heard him cussin',
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking 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
and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die. And it's
that name that helped to make you strong."
Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you've
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 your guts and the spit
in your eye because I'm the guy that named you Sue."
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George - anything but Sue.
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Comments
1 - 22 of 22
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this is my all time favorite song that Johnny Cash sang. I didn't know that he didn't write it either. its amazing the things that one learns as they go through life. I think that this has great rhyme & the flow is smooth.. I'm taking a class currently in rhyme and I hope someday to be this great.
kat -
I used tothink Johnny Cash wrote this. I was rised to find out that it was written by She Silberstein.Anyway, I've often wished that I'd met Shel.He was really cool.This is a funny poem.
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poem or song....
From guest Emily (contact)
Johnny Cash's song, a boy named sue is the exact same as this and I now know that he didn't make it but was singing about this poem. -
sad
From guest Tabby (contact)
I cant blame the father for wanting what was best for his son. Atleast his dad admitted that he couldnt be a role model to Sue. -
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From guest Grannyeri (contact)
Had no idea this man wrote this Johnny Cash hit - what a winner that one was and still is. Like this style of writing, and really appreciate this man's talent at writing poetry - can see now where music lyrics come from - poems like this. Have listened to this song so many times over the years - but it is nice just to read them without the music to fully understand what is being said. -
Great Poem
From guest Jason S. (contact)
Really gets to the heart of most Father - Son relationships. All Sons whant their Father to be their buddy, but it is a fathers job to teach his son to be a Man, no matter what. -
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From guest Mart (contact)
Isn't there another poem written from Pa's point of view? I've read it before somewhere. Very funny. -
Yeah hilarious
Some parts were altered in the lyrics of the Johnny cash song, but it still is elegant as ever.
I just love it. -
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Shel and Shep
From guest Eugene B. Bergmann (contact)
There's substantial circumstantial evidence that Shel wrote this to kid his closest friend, humorist Jean Shepherd. Here's a bit of that evidence: Shepherd talking on the radio, 1965: “You know how it felt to grow up all of your life, with the name Jean? Spelled with a J? Listen, I fist-fought my way through every grade in school. How do you think I got so aggressive? So wiry?” Shel's lyrics, sung by Johnny Cash,1969: "...it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,it seems I had to fight my whole life through. Some gal would giggle and I'd get red and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head, I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue." -
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Gee, it's amazing that you had this information, right off the top of your head!You must be a very learned man, or was this just a fluke?{Kidding!}
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I have this song on CD, it makes it even better seeing it on here!
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I love this as a song!!!!
~Madi~ -
One of my favorite country songs by the recently departed man in black.
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beautiful as always
Cash's voice with his words... wow.. wow.. wow.. i always liked his poems... i cried when he was gone.. i have his whole omnibus of poetry...my favourites are many.. like boa constrictor.. and knock.. wow wow wow... just listening to the song
sam
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Cool
Silversteins words Cash's voice How could it not be great.. Brilliant.. -
I can't get over that this is a S. Silverstein poem! I think I'm a little crushed that Johnny Cash didn't write it but Hategoddess saying she used to be at hate.com and she likes it here better makes it alright.
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I, too, didn't realize that Silverstein wrote this. I just knew it as a song. The things we learn on AP!
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Yeah, I keep on saying to people Bukowski wrote it, I should stop that now. Silverstein (makes mental note). But most people think that Cash wrote it .. yeah, like Country artists write their own lyrics.
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This is so funny. My language and arts and reading teacher read it to us earlier on in the school year! It was so funny, I wish I could write like this. Really tells an interesting story.
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Great Johnny Cash song. What I have come to realize is that Silversteins poems have been sung by many. The ballad of Lucy Jordan, sung by Marianne Faithful. Excellent! I was first introduced to Silverstein by my daughter. At the time she was 8 yrs old. She happens to be a fan of his. Who says the young can't teach the old? A phenominal poet and even more phenominal human being.
~Michelle~
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its kinda weird, but interesting
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I think this is a really strong poem, and to me this father is just kind of mean. I've read this before in english class and it just struck me with the similarity of this guy to my own father. I don't understand where fathers today ( only some ) think that thei child will grow up stronger without them, because that's not the case. I loved the story of this poem, as unrealistic as it seems.
laurie lizzie -
I first heard this sung by Johnny cash too, it is a fascinating story and shows how no matter what we are forced to endure we will all the time over come whatever is put in our paths, I loved to read it again, didn't know either who the author of the piece was till now.....................................
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I have heard that song and I liked it I really liked it seeing it typed out and i think you can understand it better that way... I am new to this site I will admite that but people seem to like me here and where I was before I was at hate.com but I like it here better.
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Yea I remember hearing this as a song too. Jonny Cash sang it if I remember correctly. May still have the old 45. And funny I didn't know that SS was the author of this amusing piece.
Desiree
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I like the laid back flow of this poem. People are pretty intolerant of someone just because of their name. I was really curious about what the ending was going to be. This was rather a fast read, as Sue fought the world towards his father so he could seek his revenge. And there's his old dad conveniently sitting in a bar! Well, I'm glad it didn't end with them killing each other. It was a happy ending, and I didn't see it coming.
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'called him pa and he called me a son,' I feel at the end, whether the fault of the writer or not, I felt it should have been just '..called me son' not 'a son'.
I wanted to hurry myself when reading this, just to see what the ending was, and as I was doing this, I was thinking 'a name like that would make you tough' and then a couple of lines later I read that same thing.
So, though he should be thankful, kicking his father's butt for giving him that name - well, you can't blame him.
It's a great story, funy, coy, and fightin'.
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Lovely piece. I've never heard it as a song but I can just imagine it - it would make a terrific song. I found some parts disturbing - one of them, of course, is the father cutting off his son's ear. But then again, differnt cultures, different traditions. I definitely liked the end, and I could understand where the father was coming from. The rhyme scheme and the meter made this a rather easy-to-read poem.
~Anastasia -
This is a good poem- I first heard it as a song. Very ironic and very funny
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