Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue

simple song . i’ve heard this song in both A# and B , so if you need to , just move
everything down a fret . enjoy .

B
my Daddy left home when i was three
E
and he didn’t leave much to ma and me
F# B
just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze .
B
now , i don’t blame him cause he run and hid
E
but the meanest thing that he ever did
F# B
was before he left , he went and named me “sue . ”

well , he must o’ thought that is quite a joke
and it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk ,
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 ya , 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 a vow to the moon and stars
that i’d search the honky – tonks and bars
and kill that man who gave 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 your gonna die!!”

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 ya , 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 .

and he said : “son , this world is rough
and if a man’s gonna make it , he’s gotta be tough
and i knew i wouldn’t be there to help ya along .
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 . ”

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 ya 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 came 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! anything but sue! i still hate that name!