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A Boy Named Sue
Sheldon Silverstein
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Yeah, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much for Ma and me
Just his dear old guitar and a half-filled bottle of booze
And it wasn't just that he run and hid
But the meanest thing that old man did
Is before he left, he went and named me Sue
Yeah, he must have thought it was quite a joke
And it got lots of laughs from lots of folks
It seems I had a fight my whole life through
Well, a girl would giggle and I'd turn red
Some guy would laugh, I'd have to bust his head
And I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue
Yeah, I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fists got hard and my wits got keen
I roamed from town to town to hide my shame
And I made a vow to the moon and stars
I'd search them honky-tonks and bars
And I'd kill the man that gave me that awful name
It was Gatlinburg in mid-July
I drove up and my throat was dry
I thought that I'd stop in and have me a brew
In an old saloon on a street of mud
And there at a table dealing studs
Sat the dirty, heartless hound that named me Sue
Yeah, I knew that old man was my dad
From a worn-out picture my mom had had
I knew the scar on his cheek and his twinkly eye
He was kind of bent, gray and old
I looked at him, my blood ran cold
I said, "My name is Sue, how do you do?
Now you're gonna die"
So I hit him hard right between the eyes
He went down, but to my surprise
Come up with a knife and he cut off a piece of my ear
So I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and out into the street
A-kickin' and gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer
Well, I tell you, I fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
Then he went for a gun and I heard him curse
When he seen that I had grabbed it first
He looked up at me and he said with a sheepish smile
He says, "Boy," he says, "this world is rough
If a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along
So I give you that name and I said goodbye
And you knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong"
He said, "You just fought one heck of a fight
And I know you hate me, you got the right to kill me now
I wouldn't blame you much if you do
But you oughta first thank me before I die
For the gravel in your guts and the steel in your eye
'Cause I'm that heartless hound who named you Sue"
What could I do?
I got all choked up and put down the gun
I called him Pa and he called me son
And I come away with a whole different point of view
And I think about him now and then
Every time I try and every time I win
And you know, if I ever have a son
I think I just might name him Jim
I'll name him Bob or something like that
I still hate that old man for hanging me up
And putting me upside around girls
I'll name my kid Jack or Frank or Rocky
And if I ever see that man again, I'll wipe him out
I won't let him talk me out of killing him
I mean, I'm still paying for what he did
I'll name my kid anything
I mean, I won't give him a name