Cash Johnny A Boy Named Sue Lyrics

A Boy Named Sue Lyrics

By: Shel Silverstein

 Recorded by J.R. Cash on 2/24/69

 Number one - Country Charts

 Number two - Pop Charts

 

 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 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!