Chords for Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (Live in Denmark)

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Well, my daddy left home when I was [Eb] three, [Bb] didn't leave [Eb] very much to my ma and [F] me,
except this old guitar and an empty [Bb] bottle of _ [F] booze.
[Bb] Now, I don't blame him, because he run and [Eb] hid, but the meanest thing that my daddy ever [F] did
was before he left, he went and [Bb] named me Sue. _
Well, they must have thought that it [Fm] was quite a [Eb] joke, and it got a lot of laughs from lots of [F] folks.
Seems I had to fight my [Bb] whole [F] life through. _
[Bb] Some gal would giggle and [Fm] I'd turn [Eb] red, and [Bbm] some guy'd [Eb] laugh and I'd bust his [F] head.
I'll tell you, life ain't easy for [Bb] a boy named Sue.
[Bb] _
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up [Eb] mean.
My fist got hard, my wits got [F] keen,
from town to town to [Bb] hide my shame.
But it made me a vow to the moon and [Eb] stars, search the honky-tonks and [F] bars,
and kill that man that gave me that [Bb] awful name.
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid [Eb]-July, and I just hit town and my throat was [F] dry.
Thought I'd stop and have [Bb] myself a brew. _
At an old saloon on the street of [Eb] mud, there at a table, dealing [F] stud,
sat the dirty mangy dog that [Bb] named me Sue. _
Well, I knew that snake was my [D] own sweet [Eb] dad from the worn-out picture that my mother'd [F] had.
Knew that scar on his [Cm] cheek and [Bb] his evil [F] eye. _
[Bb] He was big and bent and gray and [Eb] old, and I looked at him and my blood ran [F] cold.
I said, My name is Sue!
What do you do?
Now you're gonna die! _
_ _ [G] _ [Bb] _ _ _ Well, I hit him hard right [Eb] between the eyes.
He went down with a nice [F] surprise, and he came up with a knife and cut off a [Bb] piece of my ear.
_ Then I busted a chair right across the [Bbm] teeth, and we crashed through the [Eb] walls and in the [F] street,
kicking in the couch and in the mud and the [Bb] blood and the beer.
_ Well, I'll tell you, I fought [G] tougher men, but I really [Eb] can't remember when.
[F] I kicked like a mule and he bit like [Bb] a crocodile.
[F] _ [Bbm] Well, I heard him laughing and I heard him [Eb] cuss.
He threw his gun, but I pulled mine [F] first.
He stood there looking at me and I [Bb] saw him smile.
He said, Son, this world is rough, and if a [Eb] man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough.
And I knew [F] I wouldn't be there to help you [Bb] along.
[F] _ [Bbm] [Bb] So I give you that name, and I said [Eb] goodbye, and I knew you'd have to get tough or [F] die.
It's that name that'll help to [Bb] make you [G] strong.
He [Bb] said, Now, you just fought one hell of a [Eb] fight, and I know you hate me.
You got the [F] right to kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you [Bb] if you do.
_ But you ought to thank me before I [Eb] die for the gravel in your gut and the spit in your [F] eye,
because I'm the son of a bleep that [Bb] named you Slew.
What could I do?
Well, I got all choked up and I threw down [Eb] my gun.
I called him a pawn, he called me his [F] son.
I'm a boy with a different [Bb] point of view. _
And I think about it now and [Eb] then every time I try and every time I [F] win.
If I ever have a boy, I think I'm gonna name him. _
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