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

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

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-tonks 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 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 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