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.

Sure Hit Songwriter
Shel Silverstein Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Spoken Intro: Speaking of legends and tale tales, there's a big 'un going around 'bout the guy that writes a few songs and grabs his guitar and jumps on a bus and goes to Nashville and overnight becomes a smash. Now, friends, this works for some of the guys sometimes but there's a whole lotta guys running up and down 16th Avenue South here and you can see them at Tootsie's and you can see 'em at The Country Corner. And these boys have a whole lotta dreams, same way I had mine, but sometimes they come true and sometimes they don't.)

I was hanging 'round Nashville writing songs
And playing 'em for all of the stars,
Watchin' 'em laugh and hand 'em back,
Living on hope and Hershey bars.
So, I pawned my guitar and bought a ticket home,
And I's a'headin' for the Trailway bus

When I seen an old fountain pen laying in the gutter,
So I stopped and picked it up.

It was worn-out, bent and cast aside --
Kinda sorta like myself,
So I sat down on the curb and wrote a little song
That told the world how both of us felt.
Then I run that song down to Music Row
And before I had time to spit,
It's pitched and sold and cut for a record
And moving up the charts and, damn, it's a hit!

So I wrote me another winner,
Then I wrote me a smash again,
And I's a'flyin' off the ground,
'Cause I knew I'd found me a sure hit songwriter's pen.

So the songs they just kept a'pourin' out,
And the money kept pouring in.
I just couldn't miss, all it took was a twist
Of my sure hit songwriter's pen.
Remember when I won the Grammy,
Then I won it again and again?
Well, none of you knew it was all due
To my sure hit songwriter's pen.

I was darling with all the ladies.
I was a hero among the men...
Making big dough, working rodeos and TV shows --
Me and my sure hit songwriter's pen.

But then one night in Wichita
I was just coming off of the stage,
Folks all lined up screaming for my autograph...
Lord, I was a national rage.
One little freckled face girl was there, she said,
"I got no pencil, sir."

So I signed it with my songwriter's pen
And then handed the pen back to her!
Four o'clock that morning, I woke up with the shakes and the bends
With terror in my eyes 'cause, good God, I realized
I'd lost my sure hit songwriter's pen.

I offered rewards in the papers
I pleaded on the Sympathy Line,
And a whole lotta folks and a whole lotta pens,
But none of them pen's was mine.
So my songs got worse and my money ran out
And so did all my good-time friends.
And there was no doubt I was nothing without
My long-lost sure hit songwriter's pen.

So I rolled like a stone down to old Skid Row
Where I feed my blues on wine
And I rest my chops in a two-bit flop
And I tell my story for a drink or a dime
And I sleep with my shoes underneath my head
And dream about days back then
When I blazed my name across the sky
With my sure hit songwriter's pen.

Somewhere in Wichita some little girl
Who's a freckled face nine or ten
Is doing her arithmetic homework tonight
With a sure hit songwriter's pen.

And I say, God bless ya, honey
You got yourself a sure hit songwriter's pen there
Write a song for me, baby.
You got a sure hit songwriter's pen.

Send me some money.
You got a sure hit songwriter's pen.

Overall Meaning

Sure Hit Songwriter's Pen is a fascinating story that tells the tale of a songwriter who was on the verge of quitting after facing constant rejection from famous stars in Nashville. He had a difficult life, and things were not going his way. One day, as he was packing his bags to leave Nashville, he stumbled upon an old fountain pen in the gutter. This pen inspired him to write a song that would later become a hit. He then wrote several more tunes using the pen, and his fortune and popularity skyrocketed.

The songwriter attributes all his success to the sure hit songwriter's pen that he found on the street. He became a top-notch songwriter and won several Grammys, and his life was wonderful. However, he lost the pen, and his life began falling apart. He was unable to write good songs and began to lose all his money and friends. Finally, he ended up broke and alone on Skid Row, reminiscing on the good old days when he had his sure hit songwriter's pen.

The story of Sure Hit Songwriter's Pen is a cautionary tale about the dangers of over-reliance on something external, rather than one's own talent and perseverance. It also speaks to the idea that success is fleeting, and one must remain humble and grounded when they achieve it.

Line by Line Meaning

I was hanging 'round Nashville writing songs And playing 'em for all of the stars, Watchin' 'em laugh and hand 'em back, Living on hope and Hershey bars.
I was in Nashville writing songs and playing them for famous artists, but they just laughed and gave them back to me. I lived on hope and Hershey bars, getting by with very little.

So, I pawned my guitar and bought a ticket home, And I's a'headin' for the Trailway bus When I seen an old fountain pen laying in the gutter, So I stopped and picked it up.
I was leaving Nashville and had to pawn my guitar to buy a ticket home. As I was heading for the bus station, I saw an old fountain pen lying in the gutter, so I picked it up.

It was worn-out, bent and cast aside -- Kinda sorta like myself, So I sat down on the curb and wrote a little song That told the world how both of us felt.
The pen looked just like me - worn out and cast aside. I sat down on the curb and wrote a song that reflected our similar feelings.

Then I run that song down to Music Row And before I had time to spit, It's pitched and sold and cut for a record And moving up the charts and, damn, it's a hit!
I went to Music Row and played my song. Before I knew it, it was sold and recorded and started to climb the charts as a hit song.

So I wrote me another winner, Then I wrote me a smash again, And I's a'flyin' off the ground, 'Cause I knew I'd found me a sure hit songwriter's pen.
With the pen, I wrote more winning songs and another smash hit. I felt like I was flying high because I knew I'd found a sure hit songwriter's pen.

But then one night in Wichita I was just coming off of the stage, Folks all lined up screaming for my autograph... Lord, I was a national rage.
One night in Wichita, after my performance, people were lining up and screaming for my autograph. I had become a national sensation.

One little freckled face girl was there, she said, "I got no pencil, sir." So I signed it with my songwriter's pen And then handed the pen back to her!
A little girl asked me for an autograph, but she didn't have a pencil. I signed it with my songwriter's pen and gave it back to her.

Four o'clock that morning, I woke up with the shakes and the bends With terror in my eyes 'cause, good God, I realized I'd lost my sure hit songwriter's pen.
I woke up at four in the morning with the shakes and fear in my eyes, realizing that I'd lost my songwriter's pen.

I offered rewards in the papers I pleaded on the Sympathy Line, And a whole lotta folks and a whole lotta pens, But none of them pen's was mine.
I advertised rewards in newspapers and pleaded on a sympathy line. Many people offered pens, but none of them were mine.

So my songs got worse and my money ran out And so did all my good-time friends. And there was no doubt I was nothing without My long-lost sure hit songwriter's pen.
My songs got worse and my money ran out. My friends disappeared, and I had nothing left without my songwriter's pen.

So I rolled like a stone down to old Skid Row Where I feed my blues on wine And I rest my chops in a two-bit flop And I tell my story for a drink or a dime
I ended up in Skid Row, drinking wine to chase away my blues. I stayed in a cheap hotel and told my story to anyone who would listen for a drink or a dime.

Somewhere in Wichita some little girl Who's a freckled face nine or ten Is doing her arithmetic homework tonight With a sure hit songwriter's pen.
Somewhere in Wichita, a nine or ten-year-old freckled girl is doing her math homework with a sure hit songwriter's pen.

And I say, God bless ya, honey You got yourself a sure hit songwriter's pen there Write a song for me, baby. You got a sure hit songwriter's pen.
I bless that little girl and her songwriter's pen. I ask her to write a song for me because she has a sure hit songwriter's pen.

Send me some money. You got a sure hit songwriter's pen.
I jokingly ask the little girl with the songwriter's pen to send me some money.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: SHEL SILVERSTEIN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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