A Boy Named Sue Chords by Johnny Cash

[Bb] Well, my daddy left home when I was three and he [Eb] didn't leave much to maw and [F] me, just.
this old guitar and an empty [Bb] bottle of booze.
.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid, but [Eb] the meanest thing that he ever did [F] was.
before he left, he went and named [Bb] me Sue.
.
Well, he must have thought that it was quite [Cm] a joke [Eb] and it got a lot of laughs from a lots of folks.
[F] Seems I had to fight my whole [Bb] life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd [Eb] get red and some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his [F] head.
I'll tell you, life ain't easy for a boy [Bb] named Sue.
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
[Eb] My fists got hard and my wits got [F] keen.
Roamed from town to town to [Bb] hide my shame.
But I made me a vow to the moon and [Eb] stars.
I'd 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'd just hit town and my throat was [F] dry.
I thought I'd stop and have [Bbm] myself a [Bb] brew.
At an old saloon on a [Eb] street of mud, there at the table dealing [F] stud, sat the dirty man.
she'd always [Bb] named me Sue.
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet [Eb] dad from a worn out picture that my mother'd [F] had.
And I knew that scar on his cheek and [Bb] his evil eye.
He was big and thin and gray and [Eb] old and I looked at him and my blood ran [F] cold.
I said, my name is Sue.
[Bb] How do you do?.
Now, you're gonna die.
Yeah, that's what I told him.
Well, I hit him hard right between the [Eb] eyes and he went down.
But to my [F] surprise, come up with a knife and cut off [Bb] a piece of my ear.
Well, I busted a chair right [F] across his [Eb] teeth and we crashed through the wall [C] and into the [F] street.
Kicking and a gouging in the mud and the [Bb] blood and the beer.
I tell you, I've fought tougher [Bbm] men, but I really [Eb] can't remember when.
[F] He kicked like a mule and he bit like [Bb] a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him [Eb] cuss.
[Bbm] He went [Eb] for his gun and I pulled [F] mine first.
He stood there looking at me [Bb] and I saw him smile.
He said, son, this world is rough and if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta [Eb] be tough.
[Fm] And I know I wouldn't be there to [Bb] help you along.
So I give you that name and I said [Eb] goodbye.
I knew [Bb] you'd have to [Eb] get tough or die.
[F] And it's that name that helped [Bb] make you strong.
Yeah.
He said, now you just fought one hell of a [Ebm] fight.
And I know you hate me and you [F] got the right to kill me now.
And I wouldn't blame [Bb] you if you do.
But you ought to thank me before I die for [Eb] the gravel in your guts and the spit in [F] your eye.
Because I'm the son of a bitch that named [Bb] you Sue.
Yeah, what could I do?.
What could I do?.
[Eb] I got all choked up [F] and I threw down my gun, [Eb] called him my pa [Bb] and he called me his son.
And I come away with a different point of view.
And I think about him now and then [Eb] every time I try and every time I [F] win.
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him Bill [N] or George, any [Bb] damn thing but Sue.
I'll still make that.
.
[G] [N] .