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! | |
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