Lyrics A Boy Named Sue (Live).lrc Johnny Cash
[id: pshkknho]
[ar: Johnny Cash]
[al: The Essential Johnny Cash]
[ti: A Boy Named Sue (Live)]
[length: 03:54]
[00:04.36]Well, my daddy left home when I was three
[00:06.52]And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
[00:09.13]Just this old guitar and a empty bottle of booze
[00:13.62]Now, I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid
[00:16.08]But the meanest thing that he ever did
[00:18.70]Was before he left, he went and named me Sue
[00:23.99]Well, he must’ve thought that it was quite a joke
[00:26.60]And it got a lot of laughs from a lots of folks
[00:28.92]Seems I had to fight my whole life through
[00:33.64]Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
[00:36.08]And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head
[00:38.45]I’ll tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue
[00:45.54]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean
[00:47.41]My fist got hard and my wits got keen
[00:50.19]Roamed from town to town to hide my shame
[00:54.62]But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
[00:57.09]I’d search the honkytonks and bars
[00:59.75]And kill that man that give me that awful name
[01:03.92]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[01:06.61]And I just hit town and my throat was dry
[01:09.23]I thought I’d stop and have myself a brew
[01:13.79]At an old saloon on a street of mud
[01:15.88]There at a table, dealin’ stud
[01:18.25]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue
[01:23.05]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[01:25.32]From a worn-out picture that my mother’d had
[01:28.05]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
[01:32.31]He was big and bent and gray and old
[01:34.99]And I looked at him, and my blood ran cold
[01:37.16]And I said, “My name is Sue! How do you do?
[01:41.69]Now you gonna die!”
[01:44.85]Yeah, that’s what I told him!
[01:48.58]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[01:51.13]And he went down, but to my surprise
[01:53.56]Come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
[01:57.46]But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[02:00.41]And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[02:02.86]Kickin’ and a-gougin’ in the mud and the blood and the beer
[02:07.36]I tell ya, I’ve fought tougher men
[02:09.93]But I really can’t remember when
[02:11.89]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
[02:16.64]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
[02:19.29]And he went for his gun and I pulled mine first
[02:21.62]He stood there lookin’ at me and I saw him smile
[02:24.85]And he said, “Son
[02:27.59]This world is rough
[02:28.85]And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
[02:31.23]And I know I wouldn’t be there to help you along
[02:35.73]So I give you that name and I said goodbye
[02:38.49]I knew you’d have to get tough or die
[02:40.76]And it’s that name that helped to make you strong”
[02:45.25]Yeah, he said, “Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[02:48.88]And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[02:51.02]To kill me now, and I wouldn’t blame you if you do
[02:55.81]But you oughtta thank me, before I die
[02:58.11]For the gravel in your guts and the spit in the eye
[03:00.85]’Cause I’m the – that named you Sue”
[03:05.26]Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?
[03:08.92]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[03:11.32]Called him my pa, and he called me his son
[03:13.64]And I come away with a different point of view
[03:18.22]And I think about him, now and then
[03:20.78]Every time I try and every time I win
[03:23.92]And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him
[03:28.33]Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!
[03:39.74]”All right, thank you very much
[03:42.99]Just before I ask the Statler Brothers to come back out, we’d like to ask the Carter Family and Carl to help us out on a fine scripture.
[03:50.15]Look, we got a lot of requests to do ‘Peace in the Valley’.”
[03:53.10]Year of Release: 1973