Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein (25th September 1930 – 10th May 1999) was a… Read Full Bio ↴Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein (25th September 1930 – 10th May 1999) was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books.
Silverstein's passion for music was clear early on as he studied for a while at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. As a songwriter, Silverstein kept a low profile but cast a long shadow. He tended to shun publicity and even photographers. Nonetheless, his musical output included many songs which were hits for other artists. Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash (for which he won a Grammy in 1970); "One's on the Way" (which was a hit for Loretta Lynn), and "The Unicorn Song" which, despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in pubs all over the world to this day. He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook songs, including "Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball", "Sylvia's Mother", and the cautionary song about VD, "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most". He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Marie Laveau", "Rosalie's Good Eats Cafe", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", and "Tequila Sheila". The song "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan",] recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise, was also by Silverstein.
Silverstein's passion for music was clear early on as he studied for a while at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. As a songwriter, Silverstein kept a low profile but cast a long shadow. He tended to shun publicity and even photographers. Nonetheless, his musical output included many songs which were hits for other artists. Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash (for which he won a Grammy in 1970); "One's on the Way" (which was a hit for Loretta Lynn), and "The Unicorn Song" which, despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in pubs all over the world to this day. He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook songs, including "Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball", "Sylvia's Mother", and the cautionary song about VD, "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most". He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Marie Laveau", "Rosalie's Good Eats Cafe", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", and "Tequila Sheila". The song "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan",] recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise, was also by Silverstein.
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Songs And Stories
Shel Silverstein Lyrics
Diet Song Well, breakfast, black coffee One slice dry toast No butte…
Goodnight Little House Plant Now you have got to talk to your plants. Now…
Never Bite A Married Woman On The Thigh Never bite a married woman on the thigh 'Cause she just…
Paranoid Everybody says I'm paranoid They all think I'm crazy They al…
Paranoïd Everybody says I'm paranoid they all think I'm crazy They al…
Peanut Butter Sandwich (I'll tell you a story of silly young king Who played…
Scum Of The Earth There was a group called called Scum of the Earth And…
Show It On The Beach Oh they won't let us show it at the beach…
Someone Ate The Baby Someone ate the baby It's rather sad to say Someone ate the…
Sure Hit Songwriter's Pen (Spoken Intro: Speaking of legends and tale tales, there's a…
The Father Of A Boy Named Sue OK, now, many years ago, I wrote a song called…
The Smoke Off In the laid back California town of sunny San Raphael Lived…
They Held Me Down "This next song is dedicated to all the cop outs…