Cash Johnny - A Boy Named Sue guitar tab

Sender: "TPLBA"

A Boy Named Sue

Shel Silverstein

G

My daddy left home when I was three

C

And he didn't leave much to Ma and me

D G

Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.

G

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

C

But the meanest thing that he ever did

D G

Was before he left, he went and named me 'Sue.'

Well, he must o' thought that is was quite a joke

And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,

It seems I had to fight my whole life through.

Some gal would giggle and I'd get red

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

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

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,

My fist got hard and my wits got keen,

I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.

But I made me a vow to the moon and stars

That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars

And kill that man that give me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July

And I just hit town and my throat was dry,

I 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'd had,

And I 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!"

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.

But I busted a chair right across his teeth

And we crashed through the wall and into the street

Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men

But I really can't remember when,

He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.

I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,

He went for his gun and 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

And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.

So I give ya that name and I said good-bye

I knew you'd have to get tough or die

And it's that name that helped to make you strong."

He said: 'Now you just fought one hell 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 ya ought to thank me, before I die,

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

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

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun

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

And I 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 son, I think I'm gonna name him

Bill or George! Anything but sue! I still hate that name!