A Boy Named Sue Johnny Cash (Shel Silverstein) (#2 in 1969), Country

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.
 
“A Boy Named Sue","Boy Named Sue” / Well, 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 goodbye
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!