Tone: [Bb]
[Bb]My daddy left home when I was three
[Eb]And he didn't leave much to ma and me
[F]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of [Bb]booze.
[Bb]Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[Eb]But the meanest thing that he ever did
[F]Was before he left, he went and named me "[Bb]"Sue."
[Bb]Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
[Eb]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
[F]It seems I had to fight my whole life [Bb]through.
[Bb]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[Eb]And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, [F]life ain't easy for a boy named "[Bb]"Sue."
[Bb]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
[Eb]My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
[F]I'd roam from town to town to hide my [Bb]shame.
[Bb]But I made a vow to the moon and stars
[Eb]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[F]And kill that man who gave me that awful [Bb]name.
[Bb]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[Eb]And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
[F]I thought I'd stop and have myself a [Bb]brew.
[Bb]At an old saloon on a street of mud,
[Eb]There at a table, dealing stud,
[F]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "[Bb]"Sue."
[Bb]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[Eb]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
[F]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his [Bb]evil eye.
[Bb]He was big and bent and gray and old,
[Eb]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[F]And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' [Bb]How do you do!
Now you gonna die!!"
[Bb]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[Eb]And he went down, but to my surprise,
[F]He come up with a knife and cut off a [Bb]piece of my ear.
[Bb]But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[Eb]And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[F]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and [Bb]the beer.
[Bb]I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
[Eb]But I really can't remember when,
[F]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a [Bb]crocodile.
[Bb]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
[Eb]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
[F]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him [Bb]smile.
[Bb]And he said: "Son, this world is rough
[Eb]And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
[F]And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya [Bb]along.
[Bb]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
[Eb]I knew you'd have to get tough or die
[F]And it's the name that helped to make you [Bb]strong."
[Bb]He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[Eb]And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[F]To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you [Bb]do.
[Bb]But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
[Eb]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[F]Cause I'm the son-of-a-xxxxx that named you "[Bb]"Sue.'"
[Bb]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[Eb]And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
[F]And I came away with a different point of [Bb]view.
[Bb]And I think about him, now and then,
[Eb]Every time I try and every time I win,
-No Chords-
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
A - keep strumming -
Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!
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