Top Ten Shel Silverstein Songs: Three-Legged Man (#7)

Tweet

NOW we’re talking Shel Silverstein silliness! You may have been waiting to see just how crazy the late multi-talented writer could be. Now you’ll realize. Here’s today’s song from the pen of Silverstein. #7: Three-Legged Man - Steve Goodman It starts out suspiciously (“I just met the sweetest woman of my long dismal life”) and only gets funnier from there. Here we have the tale of a man who falls in love with a woman, with one problem: she’s already married. Her husband is known as “Peg Leg” Johnson, who has a prosthetic leg. The man is warned that Johnson is “big and ugly, mean and grim, and he’ll kick your ass with his artificial limb,” but the narrator steals the woman anyway. “Just to play it safe,” he also takes Johnson’s prosthetic leg. From there we’re treated to a chase filled with puns (“every time I turn around he is just one foot behind” ) and a wonderful ending that may have you rolling on the floor. Can’t believe the Chad Mitchell Trio recorded this (a cleaned-up version) in the 60s. Goodman gave it the treatment it deserved, including a few audible smiles where appropriate. Three-Legged Man Written by Shel Silverstein Recorded by Steve Goodman From Live at the Earl of Old Town, 1997 (Also on Artistic Hair, 1984) I know Margie doesn’t love me: