A Boy Named Sue was written by Shel Silverstein and popularized by Johnny Cash. Cash performed the song at San Quentin State Prison on February 24, 1969. The inspiration for the song came from a conversation Silverstein had with his friend Jean Shepherd, who joked about how tough it would be growing up with a feminine name. The song discusses a young man who grew up hating his father for naming him Sue, a feminine name, which led him to face bull ... See more [+] ying and fights but eventually finds his father and confronts him, leading to mutual understanding.
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My daddy left home when I was three
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And he didn't leave much to ma and me
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Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
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Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
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But the meanest thing that he ever did
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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,
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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,
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My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
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I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
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But I made a vow to the moon and stars
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That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
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And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
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Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
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And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
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I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
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At an old saloon on a street of mud,
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There at a table, dealing stud,
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Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."
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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.
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He was big and bent and gray and old,
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And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
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And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do! Now you gonna die!!"
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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.
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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.
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I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
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But I really can't remember when,
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He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
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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.
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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
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And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
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So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
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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.
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But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
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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.'"