A Boy Named Sue - Live

Thank you

Well, my daddy left home when I was three

Didn't leave very much to my mom and me

Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze

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

But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did

Was before he left, he went and named me Sue

Well, he must've thought that it was quite a joke

And I got a lot of laughs from a lots of folk

Seems I had to fight my whole life through

Some gal would giggle and I'd turn red

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

I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue

But I grew up quick and I grew up mean

My fist got hard and my wits got keener

Roam from town to town to hide my shame

But I made me a vow to the moon and stars

I'd search the honky tonks and bars

And kill that man that gave me that awful name

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July

And I just hit town and my throat was dry

Thought I'd stop and have myself a brew

At an old saloon on a street of mud

There at a table, dealing stud

Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad

From a worn out picture that my mother had

Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye

He was big and bent and gray and old

And I looked at him and my blood ran cold

And I said, "My name is Sue, how do you do?

Now you gonna die", that's what I told him

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes

And he went down, but to my surprise

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

Then I busted a chair right across his teeth

And we crashed through the walls and into the street

Kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer

Well, I tell you, I've fought tougher men

But I really can't remember when

He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile

Well, I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss

And he reached for his gun but I pulled mine first

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

And he said, "Son, this world is rough

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

I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along

So I give you that name, and I said goodbye

And I knew you'd have to get tough or die

It's that name that helped to make you strong"

He said, "Now you just fought one heck of a fight

And I know you hate me, and you got the right to kill me now

And I wouldn't blame you if you do

But you ought to thank me, before I die

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

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

What could I do?

Well, I got all choked up and I threw down my gun

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

Come away with a different point of view

And I think about him, now and then

Every time I try and every time I win, and if I ever have a-

Well, if I ever have a boy, I'll name him

Frank or George or Bill or Tom, anything but Sue

I don't want him go around, man call him Sue all his life

That's a horrible thing to do to a boy trying to get a hold in the world

Named a boy a Sue