Songs For My Own Enjoyment: Boy Named Sue, A

G                                    

My daddy left home when I was three  

C                                      

And he didn't leave much to ma and me  

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Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.  

G                                            

Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid  

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But the meanest thing that he ever did  

D                                         G      

Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."  

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Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke  

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And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,  

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It seems I had to fight my whole life through.  

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Some gal would giggle and I'd get red  

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And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,  

           D                                G      

I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."  

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Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,  

C                                       

My fist got hard and my wits got keen,  

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I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.  

G                                       

But I made a vow to the moon and stars  

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That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars  

D                                        G      

And kill that man who gave me that awful name.  

G                                    

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July  

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And I just hit town and my throat was dry,  

D                                    G      

I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.  

G                                     

At an old saloon on a street of mud,  

C                                

There at a table, dealing stud,  

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Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."  

G                                             

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad  

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From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,  

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And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.  

G                                      

He was big and bent and gray and old,  

C                                          

And I looked at him and my blood ran cold  

D                              G               

And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!  

Now you gonna die!!"  

G                                            

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes  

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And he went down, but to my surprise,  

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He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.  

G                                            

But I busted a chair right across his teeth  

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And we crashed through the wall and into the street  

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Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.  

G                                   

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men  

C                                  

But I really can't remember when,  

D                                       G           

He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.  

G                                             

I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,  

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He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,  

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He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.  

G                                       

And he said: "Son, this world is rough  

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And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough  

D                                         G       

And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.  

G                                          

So I give ya that name and I said goodbye  

C                                      

I knew you'd have to get tough or die  

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And it's the name that helped to make you strong."  

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He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight  

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And I know you hate me, and you got the right  

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To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.  

G                                        

But ya ought to thank me, before I die,  

C                                                 

For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye  

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Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"  

G                                            

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun  

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And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,  

D                                         G      

And I came away with a different point of view.  

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And I think about him, now and then,  

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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!