Johnny Cash Boy Named Sue Lyrics

Boy Named Sue Lyrics

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!