A Boy Named Sue

Plot

The song tells the tale of a young man's quest for revenge on a father who abandoned him at three years of age and whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue, commonly a feminine name, which results in the young man suffering from ridicule and harassment by everyone he meets in his travels. Because of this, Sue grows up tough, mean and smartens up very quickly, though he frequently relocates due to the shame his name gives him. Angered by the embarrassment and abuse that he endures in his life, he swears that he will find and kill his father for giving him "that awful name".

Sue later locates his father at a tavern in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, during the middle of a summer season, and confronts him by saying, "My name is Sue! How do you do? Now you're gonna die!" This results in a vicious brawl that spills outdoors into a muddy street. After the two have beaten each other almost senseless, Sue's father admits that he is the "heartless hound" ("son of a bitch" in the Johnny Cash version) that named him Sue and explains that the name was given as an act of love. Because Sue's father knew that he would not be there for his son, he gave him the name, believing (correctly) that the ensuing ridicule would force him to "get tough or die." Learning this, Sue makes peace with his father and they reconcile. With his lesson learned, Sue closes the song with a promise to name his son "Bill or George, anything but Sue."

Structure

The song has an unusual A-A-B-C-C-B rhyme scheme, broken only to mark the midpoint and ending. The song is performed mostly in the speech-like style of talking blues rather than conventional singing.

Censorship

The term "son of a bitch" in the line "I'm the son of a bitch that named you Sue!" was censored in the Johnny Cash version both on single and the At San Quentin album, and the final line was also edited to remove the word "damn". Both the edited and unedited versions are available on various albums and compilations. The term "son of a bitch" was edited to "son of a gun" or altogether bleeped out in some versions. When performing the song live in later performances (such as in April 1970 at the White House and in 1994 at the Glastonbury Festival, for example), Cash would himself utter a bleep-censor sound in lieu of the word. The unedited version of the original San Quentin performance is included on later reissues of the At San Quentin album and on Cash's posthumous The Legend of Johnny Cash album. Silverstein, for his part, does not utter any profanity in his original version, with Sue's father instead identifying himself as the "heartless hound" that named him Sue.

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.

The title might also 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 Monkey Trial". Hicks was named after his mother who died after giving birth to him.

In his autobiography, 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 did not 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 Cash biographer Robert Hilburn, neither the British TV crew filming the concert nor his band knew he planned to perform the song; he used a lyric sheet on stage while Perkins and the band improvised the backing on the spot. While another song, "San Quentin", was expected to be the major new song featured in the concert and subsequent album (so much so the album includes two performances of "San Quentin"), "A Boy Named Sue" ended up being the concert's major find.

Cash also performed it on his own musical variety show, ending the song with the line, "And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him...John Carter Cash", referencing to his newborn son. Cash also performed this variant at the White House in April 1970; in later years, however, he would restore the original "any name but Sue" ending, but change the wording to "if I ever have another son".

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.

Silverstein later wrote a follow-up named "The Father of a Boy Named Sue" on his 1978 Songs and Stories in which he tells the old man's point of view of the story. The only known recording of the song by a major artist is by Shel Silverstein himself. Various cover artists have covered this song since then.

Impact on popular culture

MAD Magazine issue No. 137 (September 1970) included a parody titled A Boy Dog Named Lassie, based on the fact that the Lassie movies and TV series employed male Collies in the female title role.

On an episode of The Partridge Family, a part Native American character introduces himself as "Sioux" causing a reaction from the family members, "A boy name Sioux?"

The gender-bending implications of the title have been adapted to explore issues of sex and gender, another use of the popular song title that goes beyond its original scope. The 2001 documentary A Boy Named Sue features a transgender protagonist and uses the song 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.

In the film Swingers, one of the male characters is named Sue. The name is explained by another character by saying, "his dad was a big Johnny Cash fan."

"A Boy Named Sue" is referenced in the Red Hot Chili Peppers songs "One Big Mob" and "Save This Lady."

In the Dexter's Laboratory episode '"A Boy Named Sue", Mandark recalls through his infancy and early childhood when his Hippy parents named him Susan and how he discovered his manhood by science.

The Stone Temple Pilots' song "Crackerman" references "A Boy Named Sue" in the second verse.

Wyrd Miniatures a hobby company, produces a male Outcast model named Sue for their Malifaux miniature skirmish game.

Chad Stokes Urmston references "A Boy Named Sue" in his 2014 song "Our Lives, Our Time". He sings: "At least we got our bodies, we all a boy named Sue".

The Naked City episode "The One Marked Hot Gives Cold" from 1962 has a plot similar to "A Boy Named Sue". The orphan character's name is L. Frank Childe. ('Love Childe') When he finds his father, the father tells him, "If you think about it, I made you independent son. I made you strong."