Singing Potatoes
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Friday, 7 March 2008
Learn something new every day.
Discovery

A Boy Named Sue was originally a Shel Silverstein poem "song"? All these years, I've thought Johnny Cash wrote it.

Huh.

Update: Silverstein later wrote the tale as told from the father's point of view.


Posted by godfrey (link)
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Comments
I think it's somewhat misleading to say it was a "poem"; Shel actually was quite the songwriter in earlier days, and I'm pretty sure ...Sue was written as a song, not a poem. He also wrote Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goal Posts of Life).
Posted by Zach on 9 Mar 2008 10:28
Do you have a link to the actual melody? I've only ever heard it recited as a poem, albeit usually with musical accompaniment.

Posted by Godfrey on 9 Mar 2008 11:09
Well, no, it's singspiel, as it were, but according to Wikipedia Silverstein wrote the chords too, presumably intending the both of them to work together.
Posted by Zach on 10 Mar 2008 07:38