A Boy Named Sue - wikipedia A Boy Named Sue `` A Boy Named Sue '' Single by Johnny Cash from the album At San Quentin B - side `` San Quentin '' Released July 26, 1969 Format 7 '' Recorded February 24, 1969 Genre Country talking blues comedy Length 3 : 44 Label Columbia Songwriter ( s ) Shel Silverstein Producer ( s ) Bob Johnston Johnny Cash singles chronology `` Daddy Sang Bass '' ( 1968 ) `` A Boy Named Sue '' ( 1969 ) `` Get Rhythm '' ( 1969 ) `` Daddy Sang Bass '' ( 1968 ) `` A Boy Named Sue '' ( 1969 ) `` Get Rhythm '' ( 1969 ) `` Boy Named Sue '' Single by Shel Silverstein from the album Boy Named Sue ( and His Other Country Songs ) B - side `` Somebody Stole My Rib '' Released 1969 Format 7 '' single Label RCA Songwriter ( s ) Shel Silverstein Producer ( s ) Chet Atkins, Felton Jarvis `` A Boy Named Sue '' is a song written by Shel Silverstein, made popular by Johnny Cash. He recorded the song live at California 's San Quentin State Prison at a concert on February 24, 1969. Cash also performed the song ( with comical variations on the original performance ) in December 1969 at Madison Square Garden. The song became Cash 's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his only top ten single there, spending three weeks at No. 2 in 1969, held out of the top spot by `` Honky Tonk Women '' by The Rolling Stones. The track also topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts that same year and was certified Gold on August 14, 1969, by the RIAA. Silverstein 's own recording was released the same year as `` Boy Named Sue '', a single on the album Boy Named Sue ( and His Other Country Songs ), produced by Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis. Contents 1 Plot 2 Structure 3 Censorship 4 Inspiration 5 Chart performance ( Johnny Cash version ) 5.1 Weekly charts 5.2 Year - end charts 6 Impact on popular culture 7 References 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 and 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 gon na 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 the 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 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 gon na 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. Chart performance ( Johnny Cash version ) Weekly charts Chart ( 1969 ) Peak position Canadian RPM Top Singles Canadian RPM Country Tracks Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks Irish Singles Chart Netherlands 13 UK Singles Chart US Billboard Hot Country Singles US Billboard Hot 100 US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks US Cash Box Top 100 Year - end charts Chart ( 1969 ) Rank Canada 49 US Billboard Hot 100 36 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) 40 US Cash Box 34 Preceded by `` Workin ' Man Blues '' by Merle Haggard Billboard Hot Country Singles number - one single August 23 -- September 20, 1969 Succeeded by `` Tall Dark Stranger '' by Buck Owens Preceded by `` Canadian Pacific '' by George Hamilton IV RPM Country Tracks number - one single August 23 -- September 13, 1969 Succeeded by `` True Grit '' by Glen Campbell Preceded by `` In the Year 2525 '' by Zager & Evans Billboard Easy Listening Singles number - one single August 30, 1969 ( 2 weeks ) Succeeded by `` I 'll Never Fall in Love Again '' by Tom Jones 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 Hippie 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. '' References Jump up ^ Boy Named Sue ( and His Other Country Songs ) at Discogs ( 1969 Shel Silverstein album ) Jump up ^ `` Shel Silverstein Discography ''. Dmdb.org. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ A Boy Named Sue, YouTube.com Jump up ^ Bergmann, Eugene B. : Excelsior, You Fathead ! The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd, 2005. Jump up ^ `` Johnny Cash Is Indebted to a Judge Named Sue ''. The New York Times, July 12, 1970, p. 66. Jump up ^ Cash, Johnny : Cash : The Autobiography, 1997 Jump up ^ Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash : The Life ( New York : Little, Brown, 2013 ), p. 353 - 355 ; 363 Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits : 1944 - 2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 75. Jump up ^ `` Johnny Cash -- Chart history '' Billboard Hot 100 for Johnny Cash. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2002 ). Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 - 2001. Record Research. p. 49. Jump up ^ http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19690906.html Jump up ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6104&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062 Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1969 / Top 100 Songs of 1969 ''. www.musicoutfitters.com. Jump up ^ Top Records on 1969 ( Based on Billboard Charts ) ``, Billboard, December 27, 1969. pp. 16 - 17. Accessed December 7, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1969 ''. tropicalglen.com. Jump up ^ Kristine M. McCusker, Diane Pecknold ( 2004 ) A Boy Named Sue : Gender and Country Music, University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1 - 57806 - 678 - 6 Johnny Cash Studio albums With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest ! Songs of Our Soil Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song ! Now Here 's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire : The Best of Johnny Cash The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness Is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I 'm Johnny Cash The World of Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town Classic Cash : Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III : Solitary Man American IV : The Man Comes Around Personal File American V : A Hundred Highways American VI : Ai n't No Grave Out Among the Stars Concept albums Ride This Train Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears : Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America : A 200 - Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children 's Album The Rambler Gospel albums Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land The Gospel Road ( film soundtrack ) Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him Return to the Promised Land ( video soundtrack ) My Mother 's Hymn Book Christmas albums The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas Collaborations The Lure of the Grand Canyon Carryin ' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Class of ' 55 Heroes Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers Live albums At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake Koncert v Praze ( In Prague -- Live ) At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls Non-gospel soundtracks I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy Compilations Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Destination Victoria Station Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954 -- 1958 The Man in Black 1959 -- 1962 Come Along and Ride This Train The Essential Johnny Cash ( 1992 ) Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963 -- 1969 The Man in Black -- His Greatest Hits 16 Biggest Hits Love, God, Murder The Essential Johnny Cash ( 2002 ) Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash Johnny Cash : Patriot 16 Biggest Hits : Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II The Complete Columbia Album Collection Songs `` 25 Minutes to Go '' `` Seasons of My Heart '' `` Any Old Wind That Blows '' `` The Ballad of Boot Hill '' `` The Ballad of Ira Hayes '' `` Ballad of a Teenage Queen '' `` Big River '' `` Blistered '' `` A Boy Named Sue '' `` Busted '' `` Cat 's in the Cradle '' `` Cocaine Blues '' `` Cry ! Cry ! Cry ! '' `` Daddy Sang Bass '' `` Dark as a Dungeon '' `` Do n't Take Your Guns to Town '' `` Engine 143 '' `` Flesh and Blood '' `` The Folk Singer '' `` Folsom Prison Blues '' `` Forty Shades of Green '' `` Get Rhythm '' `` Give My Love to Rose '' `` Goodnight, Irene '' `` Green, Green Grass of Home '' `` Greystone Chapel '' `` Guess Things Happen That Way '' `` Hey, Porter '' `` Home of the Blues '' `` Hurt '' `` I Could n't Keep from Crying '' `` I Love You Because '' `` I Still Miss Someone '' `` I Walk the Line '' `` If I Had a Hammer '' `` If I Were a Carpenter '' `` In My Life '' `` In the Jailhouse Now '' `` It Ai n't Me Babe '' `` Jackson '' `` Kate '' `` The Man Comes Around '' `` Man in Black '' `` The Matador '' `` Oh Lonesome Me '' `` One Piece at a Time '' `` Oney '' `` Orange Blossom Special '' `` The One on the Right Is on the Left '' `` Remember the Alamo '' `` ( Ghost ) Riders in the Sky '' `` Ring of Fire '' `` Rock Island Line '' `` So Doggone Lonesome '' `` Sunday Mornin ' Comin ' Down '' `` Tennessee Flat Top Box '' `` There Ai n't No Good Chain Gang '' `` A Thing Called Love '' `` Understand Your Man '' `` What Is Truth '' `` What 'd I Say '' Television The Johnny Cash Show Family June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family Related Albums discography Singles discography Sun Records discography The Highwaymen Carter Family Fold Man in Black : His Own Story in His Own Words Cash : The Autobiography Johnny Cash ! The Man, His World, His Music Walk the Line We Walk the Line : A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash Ring of Fire ( 2013 film ) Ring of Fire ( musical ) My Father and the Man in Black Dyess, Arkansas The Tennessee Three Book Shel Silverstein Books Uncle Shelby 's ABZ Book Lafcadio : The Lion Who Shot Back The Giving Tree Do n't Bump the Glump ! : and Other Fantasies The Missing Piece Runny Babbit Poem collections Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic Falling Up Every Thing on It Albums Freakin ' at the Freakers Ball Inside Folk Songs Twistable Turnable Man Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic Songs `` 25 Minutes to Go '' `` The Ballad of Lucy Jordan '' `` Big Four Poster Bed '' `` A Boy Named Sue '' `` The Cover of Rolling Stone '' `` Marie Laveau '' `` The Mermaid '' `` One 's on the Way '' `` Sylvia 's Mother '' `` The Unicorn '' `` Wrong Ideas '' Film soundtracks Ned Kelly ( 1970 ) Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me ? ( 1971 ) Screenplays Things Change ( 1988 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Boy_Named_Sue&oldid=797578560 '' Categories : Shel Silverstein songs 1969 singles Billboard Hot Country Songs number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles RPM Country Tracks number - one singles Johnny Cash songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston RPM Adult Contemporary number - one singles Columbia Records singles RCA Records singles Novelty songs 1969 songs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017 Singlechart usages for Billboardhot100 Singlechart called without song Articles with unsourced statements from June 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Deutsch فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Italiano Nederlands Polski Русский Simple English Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 28 August 2017, at 00 : 22. 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Question: who wrote johnny cash's song a boy named sue
Answer: Shel Silverstein