Chords:
{t:Boy Named Sue, A}
{artist:Johnny Cash}
{key:G}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gbtm-93oqE Capo 3
[G] My daddy left home when I was three
[C] And he didn't leave much to ma and me
[D] Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of [G] booze.
[G] Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[C] But the meanest thing that he ever did
[D] Was before he left, he went and named me "[G] Sue."
{c: }
[G] Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
[C] And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
[D] It seems I had to fight my whole life [G] through.
[G] Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[C] And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, [D] life ain't easy for a boy named "[G] Sue."
{c: }
[G] Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
[C] My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
[D] I'd roam from town to town to hide my [G] shame.
[G] But I made a vow to the moon and stars
[C] That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[D] And kill that man who gave me that awful [G] name.
{c: }
[G] Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[C] And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
[D] I thought I'd stop and have myself a [G] brew.
[G] At an old saloon on a street of mud,
[C] There at a table, dealing stud,
[D] Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "[G] Sue."
{c: }
[G] Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[C] From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
[D] And I knew that scar on his cheek and his [G] evil eye.
[G] He was big and bent and gray and old,
[C] And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[D] And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' [G] How do you do!
Now you gonna die!!"
{c: }
[G] Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[C] And he went down, but to my surprise,
[D] He come up with a knife and cut off a [G] piece of my ear.
[G] But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[C] And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[D] Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and [G] the beer.
{c: }
[G] I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
[C] But I really can't remember when,
[D] He kicked like a mule and he bit like a [G] crocodile.
[G] I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
[C] He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
[D] He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him [G] smile.
{c: }
[G] And he said: "Son, this world is rough
[C] And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
[D] And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya [G] along.
[G] So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
[C] I knew you'd have to get tough or die
[D] And it's the name that helped to make you [G] strong."
{c: }
[G] He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[C] And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[D] To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you [G] do.
[G] But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
[C] For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[D] Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "[G] Sue.'"
{c: }
[G] I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[C] And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
[D] And I came away with a different point of [G] view.
[G] And I think about him, now and then,
[C] Every time I try and every time I win,
[NC] And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
[G] Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!
