A Boy Named Sue

G  G

[Verse 1]
        G
Well my daddy left home when I was three
       C
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
     D                                      G
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
    G
Now I don't blame him cause he run and hid
        C
But the meanest thing that he ever did
      D                                  G
Was before he left, he went and named me 'Sue'


[Verse 2]
        G
Well he must've thought that was quite a joke
       C
And it got a lot of laughs from a-lots of folks
   D                                  G
It seems I had to fight my whole life through
     G
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
    C
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'


[Verse 3]
       G
Well I grew up quick and I grew up mean
   C
My fists got hard and my wits got keen
    D                                 G
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame
      G
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
    C
I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
    D                                   G
And kill that man that gimme that awful name


[Verse 4]
            G
Well it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
        C
And I'd 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
D                                      G
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me 'Sue'


[Verse 5]
        G
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
       C
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had
      D                                        G
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
(Yeah, that's what I told him)


[Verse 6]
       G
Well I hit him hard right between the eyes
    C
And he went down, but to my surprise
   D                                              G
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
      G
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
       C
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
D                                                      G
Kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer


[Verse 7]
  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
   C
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first
   D                                       G
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile


[Verse 8]
    G
And he said "Son, this world is rough
         C
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 you along
     G
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
  C
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
    D                                     G
And it's the name that helped to make you strong"
G
(Yeah!)

[Verse 9]
        G
He said "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
      C
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
   D                                            G
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do
        G
But you ought to thank me before I die
        C
For the gravel in yer guts and the spit in ya eye
      D                                     G
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you 'Sue'"
G
(Yeah, what could I do?  What could I do?)


[Verse 10]
      G
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
      C
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
    D                                     G
And I come away with a different point of view
      G
And I think about him, now and then
      C
Every time I try and every time I win
(*No guitar*)
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
(*No guitar*)
Bill or George, anything but Sue, I still hate that name!
G
(*No lyrics, just strumming out*)