my daddy left home when i was three
and he didn’t leave much to ma and me
just this old 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 honkytonks and bars
and kill that man who gave me that awful name
4
well it was gatlinburg in midjuly
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
5
well i knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a wornout 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’re going to die
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
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
because i’m the sonofabitch that named you sue
0
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
Artist: Johnny Cash
Year: 1969
Decade: 60s
Language: en
Word Count: 281