Well my daddy left home when I was three
and he didn't leave much to mom and me
just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze

Now I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
but the meanest thing that he ever did
was, before he left, he went and named me Sue

Well he must have thought that it was quite a joke
and it got a lot of laughs from a lot of folk
seems I had to fight my whole life through

Some girl would giggle and I'd get red
and some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head
I tell you, 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
roamed from town to town to hide my shame

But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I'd search the honkey-tonks and bars
and kill that man who'd given me that awful name

Well it was Gatlinburg in mid July
I'd just hit town and my throat was dry
thought I'd stop and have myself a brew

In 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 had
and I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye

He was big and bent and grey 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're gonna die!"
(yeah, that's what I told him!)

Well I hit him hard right between the eyes
and he went down, but to my surprise
he came up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear

Well I busted a chair right across his teeth
and we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer

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

I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
and he went for his gun, but I pulled mine first
he stood there looking 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 you along

So I give you that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
and it's that name that helped to make you strong"
(Yeah!)

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 you ought to thank me before I die
for the gravel in your gut and the spit in your eye
'cause I'm the son of a bitch that named you Sue"
(Well, what could I do? What could I do?)

I got all choked up and threw down my gun
called him my pop 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!)

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