"My name is Sue..."

[Dave W]

Bolivian Couple Explain Decision To Name Son IRON MAIDEN

The kid's father: "I want my son to have that strength, that energy. I want him to fight for what he wants, to have the attitude and, above all, to be mentally strong."

Where have we heard that before?

The father in A Boy Named Sue: "So I give ya that name and I said goodbye/I knew you'd have to get tough or die/And it's the name that helped to make you strong"

[Highlander]

... Anything but Sue...!

[4stringer77]

They could have compromised and just called him Trooper. Still sounds tough, still an Iron Maiden song yet much more practical.

[Highlander]

He'd get nicknamed Super or Starship...

[uwe]

Iron sounds suitably male, Maiden not so much, but then in Spanish middle names of the opposite sex aren't rare. Even in Germany with its restrictive name rules your first and middle name can be "Klaus Maria" as a male. Only the first name has to unequivocally determine the sex, that is why, say, "Kim" isn't allowed in Germany as a sole first name for either boys or girls, but you're allowed to name your kid "Kim-Eva" or "Kim-Adam". ("-Eva" and "-Adam" are then part of your first name, not middle names.) I would imagine that the transgender issue will probably change that naming law in the not too distant future where people will not want to have their gender recognized by their first name.

Female names as second names is pretty much unheard of in Anglo-American naming practice, right?

Alice Cooper excepted, of course. Ole Vince even has that in his passport now.

I always loved the lyric to "A Boy named Sue", but then I'm a Shel Silverstein diehard, the man never wrote a bad lyric in his life, he's a John Steinbeck of lyric writing to me.

[gweimer]

I've been told that Robert Steven Belew took his more well known name, Adrian, from his first girlfriend in high school.

[uwe]

I never thought of Adrian as a female name!

But now that you mention it, wasn't Rocky Balboa's wife an Adrian (or Adriane) too?

Belew probably took that name to defy expectations - that kind of sums him up.  (With all due respect to the early 80ies King Crimsonites here!)

[Dave W]

Shel had a golden voice too. I remember seeing him sing this on Carson back in the 60s.

[4stringer77]

David Lee Roth has the same middle name as Lee Remick's first name. There are lots of men with Female fist names. Lindsey Buckingham, Leslie Nielson, Stacy Keach, Carol Reed, Dana Carvey, Jamie Oliver...

[uwe]

Shel had a golden voice too. I remember seeing him sing this on Carson back in the 60s.

With all due respect to his lyrical and songwriting skills (and I know that early Dr. Hook was nothing without his songs), that voice is not quite  in the same league as Dennis Loccoriere's or Ray Sawyer's. Bit shrill. I now know what the producer of Dr. Hook meant when he said "I've got this songwriter who writes great songs but he can't really sing" when Dr. Hook (& the Medicine Show as they were then still called) recorded their first album, not having enough songs of their own.

Not that there is anything wrong with shrieking in the right places!

[uwe]

I now believe Dave was being ironic when he wrote Shel had a "golden voice". He should have used italics, that always helps.

[Highlander]

There was that actor called Marion Michael Morrison... did he ever get a break...?

Some variations feminine/masculine... Adrienne/Adrian, Alexandra/Alexander, Andrea/Andrew, Christine/Chris, Davina/David, Jessie/Jesse, Michelle/Michael, Lesley/Leslie, Stacy/Stacey, Nickie/Nicky, Harriet/Harry... there's dozens...

[westen44]

I never thought of Adrian as a female name!

But now that you mention it, wasn't Rocky Balboa's wife an Adrian (or Adriane) too?

Belew probably took that name to defy expectations - that kind of sums him up.  (With all due respect to the early 80ies King Crimsonites here!)

[Dave W]

Two more songs written by Shel.




Written for Tompall Glaser, but I enjoy this version.