Johnny Cash - A boy named sue

^AMy daddy left home when I was three ^DAnd he didn't leave much to ma and me ^EJust this old guitar and an empty bottle of ^Abooze. ^ANow, I don't blame him cause he run and hid ^DBut the meanest thing that he ever did ^EWas before he left, he went and named me &^Aquot;Sue."

^AWell, he must o' thought that is quite a joke ^DAnd it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk, ^EIt seems I had to fight my whole life ^Athrough. ^ASome gal would giggle and I'd get red ^DAnd some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head, I tell ya, ^Elife ain't easy for a boy named &^Aquot;Sue."

^AWell, I grew up quick and I grew up mean, ^DMy fist got hard and my wits got keen, ^EI'd roam from town to town to hide my ^Ashame. ^ABut I made a vow to the moon and stars ^DThat I'd search the honky-tonks and bars ^EAnd kill that man who gave me that awful ^Aname.

^AWell, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July ^DAnd I just hit town and my throat was dry, ^EI thought I'd stop and have myself a ^Abrew. ^AAt an old saloon on a street of mud, ^DThere at a table, dealing stud, ^ESat the dirty, mangy dog that named me &^Aquot;Sue."

^AWell, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad ^DFrom a worn-out picture that my mother'd had, ^EAnd I knew that scar on his cheek and his ^Aevil eye. ^AHe was big and bent and gray and old, ^DAnd I looked at him and my blood ran cold ^EAnd I said: "My name is 'S^Aue!' How do you do!

^AWell, I hit him hard right between the eyes ^DAnd he went down, but to my surprise, ^EHe come up with a knife and cut off a ^Apiece of my ear. ^ABut I busted a chair right across his teeth ^DAnd we crashed through the wall and into the street ^EKicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and ^Athe beer.

^AI tell ya, I've fought tougher men ^DBut I really can't remember when, ^EHe kicked like a mule and he bit like a ^Acrocodile. ^AI heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss, ^DHe went for his gun and I pulled mine first, ^EHe stood there lookin' at me and I saw him ^Asmile.

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

^AHe said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight ^DAnd I know you hate me, and you got the right ^ETo kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you ^Ado. ^ABut ya ought to thank me, before I die, ^DFor the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye ^ECause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you &^Aquot;Sue.'"

^AI got all choked up and I threw down my gun ^DAnd I called him my pa, and he called me his son, ^EAnd I came away with a different point of ^Aview. ^AAnd I think about him, now and then, ^DEvery time I try and every time I win, [No Chords] And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him A (keep strumming) Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!