… make me want to be a better person.
Q
…I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die…
Hey Quasi, are you knowledgable in his music? Maybe you can help me with something.
I was at a party a few months ago, and a few of us had guitars out, and this one guy sang “Boy Named Sue.” He then sang a song, I think called either “The Winner” or “The Loser.” It was about some young upstart who goes to challenge the meanest old timer in the bar, so he too can be a winner. The guy tells him, “go right ahead, see me crooked nose? Well, that’s what makes me a winner. And notice how I can’t hear you too well from having my ears boxed in too many times? Well, you should see the other guy, and that’s why I’m a winner,” and words to that effect.
Do you know if that’s another Cash song, and what the title is?
If you can find American 4, listen to Hurt. Cash originally covered it from the Nine Inch Nails, and it is a heart-rendingly beautiful sad song.
“A Boy Named Sue”, written by Shel Silverstein. That’s the one you remember. Also, I’m A Winner, another Shel Silverstein tune. Bobby Bare covered it, too.
Ah, Shel! Rest Ye Well!
Quasi
Hey, we’ve had ‘I Love Johnny Cash’ threads before, but I wanna put my vote in again.
I LOVE JOHNNY CASH!
I sent my woman to the grocery store
I said spend ten dollars and don’t spend no more
So she spent ten dollars on a ten cent hat
And got some store bought cat food for her mean-eyed cat
From Johnny Cash’s: “Mean Eyed Cat”
I love his warbly voise that makes him sound like a county preacher.
My sister and I were always fond of "The one on the right was on the left.
Last night at the Henry Rollins spoken word event, he was telling a story about how he and Joe strummer met up with Jonny Cash after a show and how it was just the coolest moment in his life. Joe Strummer had sent Jonny a song for an album, which he didn’t use and didn’t remember so he asked Joe to sing it for him… he was saying standing next to Joe strummer singing for Jonny Cash and me the only audience member was just too damn surreal.
I hear Jonny is the nicest most humble guy you’d ever meet.
Sometimes, when I’m working on something like my car or a computer or a furnace, I find myself singing “One Piece at a Time”
- So all you younguns listen un-to me
Lay off that whisky
And let that co-caine be! *
-“Cocaine Blues”
Listening to Cash I as I type -
I was born in the soul of misery
Never had me a name
They just gave me the number
When I was young
Thirteen, 'cause John Carter already took Mean Eyed Cat.
Correction: Nitpicking my own thread, the name of the tune is The Winner, not what I wrote previously. One of the greatest names I have ever heard came out of that song: Tiger-Man McCool
Q
OK, I know this is a Johnny Cash thread, but since Shel’s name has come up, just a few more comments about him:
Silverstein also wrote:
The heart-rending “Sylvia’s Mother” for Dr. Hook in the early 70s.
“The Unicorn” recorded by the Oirish Rovers in the 60s.
“Comin’ After Jinny” by Tex Ritter (1970ish). I searched for a copy of that for almost 20 years. (Thank you, Mr. Gore, for your wonderful invention.)
Who else could have been cool enough to play a gospel singin’ superstar so convincingly on Columbo?
If you ever see me comin’, and if you know who I am,
Don’t you breathe it to nobody, cause you know I’m on the lam
When Johnny recorded “Ring of Fire” back in 1960, no one told him he couldn’t use a Mexican horn section in a c&w song, so he did.
Thanks, Mjollnir! And isn’t it also true that Shel searched until he found just the right band (lead voice) to play his tunes? Shel had such a distinctive voice, I think that Dennis Locorriere (sp?) may have come the closest to imitating it.
Jesus! I’m hijacking my own thread! :D:D
Quasi
Seconded.
Love Shel! His book of short poems “WHere the Sidewalk Ends” is much loved in my family. Check it out and read it to yours. Mine learned to read by memorizing their faves.
I just recently found out on Larry King’s interview with the Man in Black that Shel wrote " A Boy name Sue". Said he sang the song for the first time at Folsom Prison after Shel sang it for him at his party the night before. Kris Kristofferson sang there, too. What a great party that had to be!
I always find it interesting when somebody you like wrote the song by somebody you love.
I always find it interesting when somebody you like wrote the song >sung< by somebody you love.