Johnny Cash - A boy named sue

^DWell my daddy left home when I was three ^GAnd he didn't leave much to ma and me ^AJust this old guitar and an empty bottle of ^Dbooze. ^DNow, I don't blame him cause he run and hid ^GBut the meanest thing that he ever did ^AWas before he left, he went and named me "^GSue."

^DWell, he must o' thought that is quite a joke ^GAnd it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk, ^AIt seems I had to fight my whole life ^Dthrough. ^DSome gal would giggle and I'd get red ^GAnd some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head, I tell ya, ^Alife ain't easy for a boy named "^DSue."

^DWell, I grew up quick and I grew up mean, ^GMy fist got hard and my wits got keen, ^AI'd roam from town to town to hide my ^Dshame. ^DBut I made a vow to the moon and stars ^GThat I'd search the honky-tonks and bars ^AAnd kill that man who gave me that awful ^Dname.

^DWell, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July ^GAnd I just hit town and my throat was dry, ^AI thought I'd stop and have myself a ^Dbrew. ^DAt an old saloon on a street of mud, ^GThere at a table, dealing stud, ^ASat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "^DSue."

^DWell, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad ^GFrom a worn-out picture that my mother'd had, ^AAnd I knew that scar on his cheek and his ^Devil eye. ^DHe was big and bent and gray and old, ^GAnd I looked at him and my blood ran cold ^AAnd I said: "My name is 'Sue! ' ^DHow do you do!

^DWell, I hit him hard right between the eyes ^GAnd he went down, but to my surprise, ^AHe come up with a knife and cut off a ^Dpiece of my ear. ^DBut I busted a chair right across his teeth ^GAnd we crashed through the wall and into the street ^AKicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and ^Dthe beer.

^DI tell ya, I've fought tougher men ^GBut I really can't remember when, ^AHe kicked like a mule and he bit like a ^Dcrocodile. ^DI heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss, ^GHe went for his gun and I pulled mine first, ^AHe stood there lookin' at me and I saw him ^Dsmile.

^DAnd he said: "Son, this world is rough ^GAnd if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough ^AAnd I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya ^Dalong. ^DSo I give ya that name and I said goodbye ^GI knew you'd have to get tough or die ^AAnd it's the name that helped to make you ^Dstrong. "

^DHe said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight ^GAnd I know you hate me, and you got the right ^ATo kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you ^Ddo. ^DBut ya ought to thank me, before I die, ^GFor the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye ^ACause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "^DSue.'"

^DI got all choked up and I threw down my gun ^GAnd I called him my pa, and he called me his son, ^AAnd I came away with a different point of ^Dview. ^DAnd I think about him, now and then, ^GEvery time I try and every time I win, ^N.C.And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him Bill or George! ^DAnything but Sue! I still hate that name!