What Is the Song About and Who Is Sue?
The song tells the story of a boy abandoned by his father at the age of three and left to deal with the ridicule of having a female name. Right from the introduction, we find out that not only has Sue’s father abandoned him, but he also left him with the burden of a name that is more suited for a girl.
Jean Shepherd. Source: theverge.com
“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.”
Sue is angry because everyone makes fun of his name and wishes he had a regular name like everyone else. Because the name gives him so much same, Sue grows up mean and tough but also relocates quite frequently to escape the ridicule that seems to follow him wherever he goes.
“Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke, and it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk, it 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 tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named “Sue.”
The years pass, and Sue eventually finds his father in a bar and greets him with one of the best three lines in songwriting history: “My name is Sue. How do you do? Now you’re gonna die!”