Shel Silverstein wrote a sequel to “A Boy Named Sue” (see here) called “The Father of a Boy Named Sue”. It is an irreverent and morally questionable folk song, brutally realistic in portraying the nastiness in the world around us.
The story is told from the father’s point of view: he admits that he lied about naming his son Sue to make sure he would become tough, he just wanted to be nasty. And now Sue, who has became a drag queen, lives with him, offering all the services of a daughter, and even more…
Intro
(Okay now years ago I wrote a song called A Boy Named Sue and that was okay
And everything except then I started to think about it and I thought
It is unfair I am looking at the whole thing from the poor kid’s point of view
And as I get more older and more fatherly
I begin to look at things from an old man’s point of view
So I decided to give the old man equal time okay here we go)
Yeah I lef’ home when the kid was three and it sure felt good to be fancy free
Tho I knew it wasn’t quite the fatherly thing to do
But that kid kept screamin’ and throwin’ up and pissin’ in his pants til I had enough
So just for revenge I went and named him Sue
Yeah it was Gatlinberg in mid July I was gettin’ drunk but gettin’ by
Gettin’ old and goin’ from bad to worse
When thru the door with an awful scream comes the ugliest queen I’ve ever seen
He says my name is Sue how do you do then he hits me with his purse
Now this ain’t the way he tells the tale but he scratched my face with his fingernails
And then he bit my thumb and kicked me with his high-heeled shoe
So I hit him in the nose and he started to cry and he threw some perfume in my eye
And it sure ain’t easy fightin’ with a boy named Sue
So I hit him in the head with a caned-back chair
And he screamed hey dad you mussed my hair
And he hit me in the navel and knocked out a piece of my lint
He was spittin’ blood I was spittin’ teeth
And we crashed through the wall and out into the street
A kickin and gougin’ in the mud and the blood and the creme de menthe
Then out of his garter he pulls a gun I’m about to get shot by my very own son
He’s screamin’ bout Sigmund Freud and lookin’ grim uh
So I thought fast and I told him some stuff
How I named him Sue just to make him tough
And I guess he bought it ’cause now I’m livin’ with him
Yeah he cooks and sews and cleans up the place he cuts my hair and shaves my face
And irons my shirts better than a daughter could do
And on the nights that I can’t score well I can’t tell you anymore
Sure is a joy to have a boy named Sue yeah a son is fun
But it’s a joy to have a boy named Sue
IL PADRE DI UN RAGAZZO CHIAMATO SUE
(OK, anni fa, ho scritto una canzone intitolata “Un ragazzo chiamato Sue” e tutto è andato bene finché non ho cominciato a pensarci e mi sono detto:
Non è giusto che guardi l’intera faccenda solo dal punto di vista del povero ragazzo
E così man mano che divento più vecchio e più paterno
comincio a guardare le cose da un punto di vista da vecchio
quindi ho deciso di offrire al padre lo stesso spazio, ok, andiamo)
Sì, me ne sono andato da casa quando il bambino aveva tre anni ed era davvero bello essere libero e senza pensieri
anche se sapevo che non era proprio la cosa più paterna da fare,
ma quel ragazzo continuava a strillare, vomitare e farla addosso finché ne ho avuto abbastanza.
Così, per vendicarmi, ho deciso di chiamarlo Sue.
Sì, era metà luglio a Gatlinberg, io mi ubriacavo ma tiravo avanti
invecchiando e andando di male in peggio
quando dalla porta con uno strillo orribile entra la più brutta checca che abbia mai visto,
Dice: Mi chiamo Sue, come va? e poi mi colpisce con la sua borsa
Non è così che lui racconta la storia, ma mi ha graffiato il viso con le unghie
e poi mi ha morso il pollice e mi ha preso a calci con la sua scarpa col tacco alto.
Così l’ho colpito sul naso e lui ha iniziato a piangere e mi ha gettato un po’ di profumo negli occhi.
Certamente non è facile litigare con un ragazzo di nome Sue
Io l’ho colpito alla testa con una sedia dallo schienale di bambù;
lui ha urlato ehi papà, mi hai scompigliato i capelli
e mi ha colpito l’ombelico e tirandomi via un po’ di lanugine.
Lui sputava sangue, io sputavo denti,
abbiamo sfondato il muro e siamo usciti per strada
scalciando e rotolando nel fango, nel sangue e nella Crème de Menthe
Poi lui tira fuori dalla giarrettiera una pistola e io sto per essere ammazzato da mio figlio
Lui urla contro Sigmund Freud e sembra confuso
così ho pensato velocemente e gli ho detto alcune cose:
che l’ho chiamato Sue solo per farlo diventare duro
e credo che se la sia bevuta perché ora vivo con lui
Sì, lui cucina, cuce e pulisce dove mi taglia i capelli e mi fa la barba
e stira le mie camicie meglio di quanto possa fare una figlia
E nelle notti in cui non riesco a scopare, beh non posso dirvi di più
Certo è una gioia avere un ragazzo di nome Sue, sì, un figlio è un bel divertimento
ma è una gran gioia avere un ragazzo di nome Sue.
(L.Z.)
This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing😊
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Delighted you enjoyed this song🎼
Thanks very much for your kind comment
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Whoa, I didn’t know Silverstein wrote a sequel. It IS a brutal narrative. (But well done.)
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Yes, it is a hard and brutal story, as unfortunately happens in this mean world
Thank you for your support, dear Priscilla
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I’d forgotten about this sequel, but it certainly brought a smile to my face 🙂
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I didn’t know it at all, before doing research for my previous post. 🎼😉
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Food for thought a riguardo sembri la chioccia che imbocca i pulcini nel nido.Mi ricordo di Thomas Mann che diceva che ci costruiamo anche in base al nome,di Troisi che diceva che chiamare Massimiliano un figlio era diseducativo,perché troppo lungo, per arrivare anche a me che ha avuto due percorsi,prima con un diminutivo,con cui mi conosce solo il parentado e poi con Michele con cui mi conoscono tutti gli altri ed anche io nel mio piccolo ho notato qualche differenza tra il prima e il dopo.
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Grazie per questa bella riflessione, Michele caro🙏🙏🙏
Ti auguro una bella settimana
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Great song and a great performer. Johnny Cash’s ancestry goes back to King Malcom IV, and his ancestor, William, was aboard a 1612 pilgrim landing in Massachusetts. His family later settled in Essex County, Massachusetts, which is where I live now.
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How interesting|
Thank you for sharing this valuable information🙏🙏🙏
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Ma questo cantante era un bel pezzo avanti con i tempi scrivendo questo testo!!! 🙂
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Certamente, e quando ho scoperto la canzone, per caso, ne sono rimasta molto colpita
Buon pomeriggio! 🌹😘🌹
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Bel testo, buon pomeriggio 🙂
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Molto duro e irriverente 🙏😘🙏
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Sempre meglio che falso….
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Certamente!
Buona serata, Silvia 🌙🌙🌙
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Wow…
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E’ la reazione che ho avuto anch’io quando l’ho sentita per la prima volta!🎼
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raramente un testo così poco ipocrita 😀 😀 😀
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Vero!
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😉
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Molto interessante come sempre. E ottima la traduzione. Un abbraccio, Luisa! 🙏🌹🌹
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Grazie, caro Marcello!
Buon pomeriggio 🎼🌹😘
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That’s super eye-opening!
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Harsh lyrics, as is life
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As is gender stereotyping
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Of course!
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Reblogged this on Love and Love Alone.
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Thank you!!! 🎼🙏💜🙏💜
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Non conoscevo questo brano di Cash. Impressionante, specie il testo.
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Questo brano non è di Cash, ma è stato scritto dallo stesso autore del suo successo “A boy named Sue” e cioè Shel Silverstein
Buona serata, Loredana cara 🌹🙏🌹
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Fortte! Ciao Luisa 🙂
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🙏🎶💜🎵💜🙏
Buona serata, Marghian!
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I really have enjoyed this piece. In Italy, you know, we say (in Italian of course) , “I have a weakness….” for country folk music and songs”. Ciao 🙂
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I know… 😉😘🎶
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I remember this song from years ago. I always love different points of view.
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One should always look at things from different points of view, have doubts and not accept a prepackaged truth. Don’t you think so too? 😘
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That is exactly what I do every day, including the news. As a songwriter, my specialty was writing (or changing) songs to the female voice.
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How interesting! 🎶🙏🎶🙏🎶
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Impressing! 🤓♨
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🙏💙🙏
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That sure was a tale!
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Harsh and painful, as reality is sometimes
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belle le sue parole
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Belle, direi proprio di no… ma terribilmente realistiche, a volte
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quello che conta è la realtà
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Abbastanza tosto questo testo…
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Sì, nessuna delle sdolcinature presenti in tante canzoni
Buon pomeriggio! 🌞🎵🌞
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Amazing!!
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Thank you so much !
Grateful for your kind feedback 🙏
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💙💙
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I love that song. Thank you.
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Huh, an interesting sequel to say the least.
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I thought so, too 🙏💜🙏💜🙏
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[…] Silverstein (author of The Father of a Boy Named Sue and Zebra Question) wrote this lovely poem, based on a play on words, promoting […]
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