[ti:A Boy Named Sue] [ar:Johnny Cash] [al:The Legend] [by:] [offset:0] [00:00.00]A Boy Named Sue (Live at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA - February 1969) - Johnny Cash [00:05.33]My daddy left home when I was three [00:07.77]And he didn't leave much to ma and me [00:10.07]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze [00:14.69]Now I don't blame him cause he ran and hid [00:17.27]But the meanest thing that he ever did [00:19.07]Was before he left he went and named me Sue [00:27.08]Well he must of thought that is quite a joke [00:29.13]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk [00:31.63]It seems I had to fight my whole life through [00:32.75]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red [00:36.87]And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head [00:39.49]I tell ya life ain't easy for a boy named Sue [00:46.42]Well I grew up quick and I grew up mean [00:48.79]My fist got hard and my wits got keen [00:50.91]I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame [00:53.28]But I made a vow to the moon and stars [00:58.15]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars [01:01.02]And k**l that man who gave me that awful name [01:05.07]Well it was Gatlinburg in mid-July [01:07.01]And I just hit town and my throat was dry [01:09.78]I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew [01:14.70]At an old saloon on a street of mud [01:16.70]There at a table dealing stud [01:19.57]Sat the dirty mangy dog that named me Sue [01:24.06]Well I knew that snake was my own sweet dad [01:26.30]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had [01:28.62]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye [01:33.36]He was big and bent and gray and old [01:35.42]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold [01:38.17]And I said: 'My name is Sue How do you do [01:43.22]Now you gonna die" That's what I told him [01:48.02]Well I hit him hard right between the eyes [01:51.71]And he went down but to my surprise [01:55.14]He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear [01:59.38]But I busted a chair right across his teeth [02:01.38]And we crashed through the wall and into the street [02:04.05]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer [02:08.99]I tell ya I've fought tougher men [02:10.74]But I really can't remember when [02:13.25]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile [02:18.17]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss [02:20.55]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first [02:23.04]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile [02:26.54]And he said:"Son this world is rough [02:30.28]And if a man's gonna make it he's gotta be tough [02:32.84]And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along [02:37.09]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye [02:39.40]I knew you'd have to get tough or die [02:42.16]And it's the name that helped to make you strong" [02:46.59]He said:"Now you just fought one hell of a fight [02:50.46]And I know you hate me and you got the right [02:52.83]To k**l me now and I wouldn't blame you if you do [02:57.45]But ya ought to thank me before I die [02:59.94]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye [03:02.63]Cause I'm the son of a b**ch that named you Sue" [03:06.99]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun [03:12.87]And I called him my pa and he called me his son [03:15.73]And I came away with a different point of view [03:19.98]And I think about him now and then [03:21.98]Every time I try and every time I win [03:24.66]And if I ever have a son I think I'm gonna name him [03:30.09]Bill or George Any damn thing but Sue I still hate that name