A Boy Named Sue

The Influence of a Man

A Boy Named Sue is a hilarious, yet serious commentary about the influence of a man in the life of a child.  First of all, in this song Sue was not gay or trans-gendered, nor did he struggle with gender ambiguity. 

What happened?  A father, forecasting his absence in the life of his baby boy, somehow (and inexplicably) convince his girlfriend to name their son “Sue” because he thought since he wouldn’t be around it would be a good idea.

This song was written by Shel Silverstein, but performed and made famous by Johnny Cash, an American singer. The song was released in his 1969 album San Quentin and it was one of most popular songs, which he performed at concerts, some being for incarcerated men.

The first two stanzas begin like this:

Well, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze

Now I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left he went and named me Sue

Later in the blog I will post the YouTube link so that you can listen to the song even if country/folk is not your style. Please persevere for a moment and be prepared to laugh out loud.

In today’s world, some psychologist might praise this man’s attempt to loosening rigid gender norms, but it was actually the exact opposite.  The American Psychological Association (APA) would label this an example of the perils of “Traditional Masculinity”. By the way did I mention it was released in 1969?  Can you imagine a boy growing up with this name?  Read more of the lyrics below.

Well, he musta thought that it was quite a joke
An’ it got a lot of laughs from lots a folks
Seems I had to fight my whole life through

Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head
I’ll tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue

How does an absentee father exert impact over a child?  I mean, that guy left when Sue was three years old.  It is obvious that a man has a profound effect on the life of his children. I don’t know what his mother was like or what type of male influence was a part of his life, but Cash explains this influence as the song continues.

I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keen
I roamed from town to town to hide my shame

But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I’d search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man that gave me that awful name

Side note:  It’s interesting that the incarcerated men, whom he performs for had a really big laugh at that part…  (Check out the link at the end of this blog.)

As this brilliant musical narrative develops, we travel with Sue through his fatherless and tough life until one day he recognizes and meets the old man in a bar in “Gatlinburg in mid-July”. What ensues is… well read it for yourself…

In and old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table dealin’ 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
I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye

He was big and bent and grey 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 gonna die
Yeah, that’s what I told him!

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down but to my surprise
Come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear

I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kickin’ and a gougin’ in the the mud and the blood and the beer

After trading blows, Sue and his father faced off, and the son manages to get the jump first on the old man and pulls his gun.  (Why did he name his son Sue?)  The climax of the drama unfolds and in that moment the father laughed and explained that the world was “rough” and he needed to be “tough” and he knew that he wouldn’t be around to help him.  Sue would have to be “tough or die”. 

In the end, the main character actually acknowledges his father, and came around to “a different point of view”.  It seemed like this ‘three minute of therapy in thirty years’ helped to put a life of pain and abandonment into some kind of healing perspective.

In our Genesis Man small group, we had a great (Google Meet) discussion about the influence of a man as we listened to this piece of music.  I open this conversation with these same questions:

1. What do you think of the song? (A Boy Named Sue)
2. How does the man feel about his father at the beginning and at the end of the story?
3. How did he influence the son’s life? 
4. What was the reason for naming his son Sue? 
5. Do you think that it was a positive or negative influence?
6. Was this a good-intentioned bad idea?

I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and email.

I will be writing a conclusion to this blog next week and tell you how everything fits together…

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Genesis Man Project.

Israel

Since you are already here, look around a bit, and please sample the first two chapter of the Genesis Man book. 

Before you leave please take a moment and give us some feedback

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Conversations and Comments…

1. 

   praise God that’s awesome I myself was a wrestling fan,God is a miracle worker what he did in Shawn Michael’s…

2. 

   Wow that’s awesome I didn’t know he used to drive a taxi but God used him to deliver his message…

3. 

   Wow that’s was an interesting blog you break it down so timely love it .God loves us no matter what…

4. 

   Good job with the survey

5. 

   Great job

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