A Boy named Sue

Shel Silverstein / Johnny Cash: At San Quentin (1969)

	A	D7
Well My	daddy left home when I was three -- And he	didn't leave much to Ma and me

	E7	A
Just	this old guitar and an empty bottle of	booze. -- Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid

	D7	E7	A
But the	meanest thing that he ever did -- Was be	fore he left, he went and named me '	Sue'.

Well, he must have thought that that was quite a joke -- And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folks,

It seems I had to fight my whole life through. -- Some gal' would giggle and I'd get red

And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head, -- I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named 'Sue'.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean, -- My fist got hard and my wits got keen,

I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame. -- But I made me a vow to the moon and stars

That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars -- And kill that man that give me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July -- And I just hit town and my throat was dry,

I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew. -- At an old saloon on a street of mud,

There at a table, dealing stud, -- Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me 'Sue'.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad -- From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,

And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye. -- He was big and bent and gray and old,

And I looked at him and my blood ran cold -- And I said: "My name is 'Sue'! how do you do?

Now you gonna die!" - Yeah, that's what I told him!

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes -- And he went down, but, to my surprise,

He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear. -- But I busted a chair right across his teeth

And we crashed through the wall and into the street -- Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you, I've fought tougher men -- But I really can't remember when,

He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile. -- I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,

He went for his gun and I pulled mine first, -- He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

He said: "Son, this world is rough -- And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough

And I know I wouldn't be there to help you along. -- So I give you that name and I said good-bye

I knew you'd have to get tough or die -- And it's that name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight -- And I know you hate me, and you got the right

To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do. -- But you ought to thank me, before I die,

For the gravel in ya' guts and the spit in ya' eye -- Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you 'Sue'."

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun -- And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,

And I come away with a different point of view. -- And I think about him, now and then,

Every time I try and every time I win, -- And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him

Bill or George! Any damn' thing but Sue! -- I still hate that name!