A Boy Named Sue (Live at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA - February 1969)

A Boy Named Sue (Live at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA - February 1969) - Johnny Cash

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 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 guyed 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 honky-tanks and bars

And kill that man who gave 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 mothered 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 your 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 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

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-b**ch 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 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