[ti:A Boy Named Sue] [ar:Johnny Cash] [al:] [00:05.78]My daddy left home when I was three [00:08.32]And he didn't leave much to ma and me [00:10.50]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze. [00:15.31]Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid [00:17.68]But the meanest thing that he ever did [00:19.59]Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue." [00:25.87]Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke [00:27.92]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk, [00:30.41]It seems I had to fight my whole life through. [00:35.35]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red [00:37.36] [00:40.08]I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue." [00:47.12]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean, [00:49.63]My fist got hard and my wits got keen, [00:52.21]I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame. [00:56.51]But I made a vow to the moon and stars [00:59.00]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars [01:01.68]And kill that man who gave me that awful name. [01:06.09]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July [01:08.58]And I just hit town and my throat was dry, [01:11.37]I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew. [01:16.23]At an old saloon on a street of mud, [01:17.75]There at a table, dealing stud, [01:20.21]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue." [01:26.44]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad [01:28.28]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had, [01:29.76]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye. [01:34.13]He was big and bent and gray and old, [01:36.48]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold [01:39.02]And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do! [01:43.03]Now your gonna die!!" [01:51.50]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes [01:52.85]And he went down, but to my surprise, [01:55.43]He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear. [01:59.79]But I busted a chair right across his teeth [02:02.17]And we crashed through the wall and into the street [02:04.73]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer. [02:09.33]I tell ya, I've fought tougher men [02:11.49]But I really can't remember when, [02:14.64]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile. [02:18.77]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss, [02:21.29]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first, [02:23.95]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile. [02:30.57]And he said: "Son, this world is rough [02:32.34]And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough [02:34.08]And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along. [02:37.81]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye [02:40.31]I knew you'd have to get tough or die [02:42.93]And it's the name that helped to make you strong." [02:47.37]He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight [02:50.91]And I know you hate me, and you got the right [02:53.58]To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do. [02:57.97]But ya ought to thank me, before I die, [03:00.41]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye [03:02.79]Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'" [03:12.37]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun [03:13.88]And I called him my pa, and he called me his son, [03:16.35]And I came away with a different point of view. [03:20.52]And I think about him, now and then, [03:23.50]Every time I try and every time I win, [03:25.61]And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him