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Song: [A] Boy Named Sue
Artist: Johnny cash
Tuning: Standard ([E][A][D][G]Be)
Capo on 1st fret
[Verse 1] [A] My daddy left home when I was three
[D] And he didn't leave much to ma and me
[E] Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of [A] booze.
[A] Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[D] But the meanest thing that he ever did
[E] Was before he left, he went and named me [A] "Sue."
[Verse 2]
[A] Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
[D] And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
[E] It seems I had to fight my whole life [A] through.
[A] Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[D] And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I [E] tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named [A] "Sue."
[Verse 3]
[A] Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
[D] My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
[E] I'd roam from town to town to hide my [A] shame.
[A] But I made a vow to the moon and stars
[D] That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[E] And kill that man who gave me that awful [A] name.
[Verse 4]
[A] Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[D] And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
[E]I thought I'd stop and have myself a [A] brew.
[A] At an old saloon on a street of mud,
[D] There at a table, dealing stud,
[E] Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me [A] "Sue."
[Verse 5]
[A] Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[D] From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
[E] And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil [A] eye.
[A] He was big and bent and gray and old,
[D] And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[E] And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
Now [A] you gonna die!!"
[Verse 6]
[A] Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[D] And he went down, but to my surprise,
[E] He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my [A] ear.
[A] But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[D] And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[E] Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the [A] beer.
[Verse 7]
[A] I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
[D] But I really can't remember when,
[E] He kicked like a mule and he bit like a [A] crocodile.
[A] I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
[D] He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
[E] He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him [A] smile.
[Verse 8]
[A] And he said: "Son, this world is rough
[D] And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
[E] And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya [A] along.
[A] So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
[D] I knew you'd have to get tough or die
[E] And it's the name that helped to make you [A] strong."
[Verse 9]
[A] He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[D] And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[E] To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you [A] do.
[A] But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
[D] For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[E] Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you [A] "Sue.'"
[Verse 10]
[A] I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[D] And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
[E] And I came away with a different point of [A] view.
[A] And I think about him, now and then,
[D] Every fight I try and every time I win,
[No Chords]
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Sue! [A]
