My daddy left home when I was three
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And he didn't leave much to ma and me
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Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
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Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
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But the meanest thing that he ever did
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Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."
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Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
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And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
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It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
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Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
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And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
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I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."
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Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
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My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
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I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
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But I made a vow to the moon and stars
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That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
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And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
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Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
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And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
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I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
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At an old saloon on a street of mud,
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There at a table, dealing stud,
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Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."
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Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
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From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
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And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
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He was big and bent and gray and old,
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And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
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And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
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Now your gonna die!!"
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Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
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And he went down, but to my surprise,
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He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
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But I busted a chair right across his teeth
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And we crashed through the wall and into the street
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Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
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I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
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But I really can't remember when,
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He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
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I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
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He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
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He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
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And he said: "Son, this world is rough
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And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
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And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
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So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
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I knew you'd have to get tough or die
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And it's the name that helped to make you strong."
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He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
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And I know you hate me, and you got the right
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To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
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But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
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For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
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Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"
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I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
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And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
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And I came away with a different point of view.
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And I think about him, now and then,
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Every time I try and every time I win,
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And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
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Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!
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A Boy Named Sue
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| Johnny Cash |
