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"A Boy Named Sue" is the greatest song about accepting your struggles, while also refusing to pass that trauma onto your children. (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by Paleobiology@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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The greatest song about accepting your struggles as key to making you who you are, while also refusing to pass that generational trauma on to your own children, is Johnny Cash / Shel Silverstein’s “A Boy Named Sue”

*Bonus points for implicitly understanding the trauma of being misgendered.

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[-] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You should listen to the second song, then. Might change your perspective.

Full disclosure: both were written by Shel Silversein, but Cash refused to perform the latter. This is pre-Where The Sidewalk Ends, mind you. This is The Great Smoke-Off era Silverstein.

edit: Here's Shel Silverstein performing "Father of A Boy Named Sue"

[-] brad@toad.work 8 points 1 year ago

Yeah, "Father of a Boy Named Sue" Is really like "What if, instead of writing a good song, I make myself look like a hugely toxic, ignorant piece of shit by writing this song instead"

[-] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm not disagreeing with you, though that certainly sounds like your perspective was newly informed by this additional trivia.

[-] brad@toad.work 2 points 1 year ago

I don't understand what you mean. This isn't new trivia. It's just a hugely problematic, incestuous, transphobic song

[-] Offlein@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Holy fuck

... It doesn't even make sense. If Sue ends up choosing to live life as a flamboyant, gay drag queen then why is Sue pissed off at the dad in the first place? 🤔

[-] BadEngineering@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

The father-son/daughter incest was also an interesting choice.

[-] Offlein@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Hmm that part really was the only thing that resonated with me.

[-] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Maybe that's yet another secret one finds where the sidewalk ends? 🤷🏼‍♂️

this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2023
229 points (96.4% liked)

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