Boy Named Sue lyrics

Artist  : Johnny Cash 
Song : Boy Named Sue
 


My daddy left home when I was three
And he
didn't leave much to Ma and me
Just this old
guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I
don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the
meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he
left, he went and named me
'Sue.'


Well, he must o' thought that
is was 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 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!"

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 know I wouldn't be
there to help ya along.
So I give ya 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 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 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! Anything but
sue! I still hate that name!