OK, now, many years ago, I wrote a song called "A Boy Named Sue",
And, that was OK and everything except, then I started to think about it, and I thought, It is unfair.
I am, I am loking at the whole thing from te poor kid's point of view.
And as I get more older and more fatherly, I began to look at things from old men's point of view.
So, I decided to give the old man equal time. OK, here we go...

Yea, I left home when the kid was three
And it sure felt good to be fancy free
Though I knew it wasn't quite the fatherly thing to do
But that kid kept screaming and throwing up
And pissing his pants till I had enough
So just for revenge I went and named him Sue
Yeah!

It was Gatlinburg in mid July
I was gettin drunk but gettin by
Gettin old and going from bad to worse

When through the door with an awful scream
Come 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 heel shoe

So I hit him in the nose and he started to cry
And he threw some perume in my eye
And it sure ain't easy fightin an old boy named Sue

So I hit him in the head with a cane 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
Kickin and gouging in the mud and the blood and the creame de menthe

Then out of his garter he pulls a gun
I'm about to get shot by my very own son
He's screaing about Sigmnd Freud and looking grim - woo
So I thought fast and I told him some stuff
How I named him Sue just to make him tough
And I guess he bught it cause now I'm living 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 nights that I can't score
Well, I can't tell you any more
But it sure is a joy to have a boy named Sue
Yeah a son is fun but it's joy to have a boy named Sue!


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae

Father of a Boy Named Sue Lyrics as written by Shel Silverstein

Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.

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A Boy Named Sue song meanings
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3 Comments

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    General Comment

    I'm surprised noones commented. I love this song- was very surprised at the time I heard it was by Silverstein, I'm a huge Silverstein fan. Kinda funny, his career was started by Playboy, he did so much adullt satire, and was perhapps the best poet for elementary aged kidds ever.

    loderunneron September 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Lol i didn't know this was written by Silverstein, I heard my friends dad listening to Jonny Cash and this song came on and i thought it was soooo funny.

    Closure11on May 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Shel Silverstein was one funny Jew.

    BillySevenon January 19, 2010   Link

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