A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash - guitar chords, guitar tabs and lyrics

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	A
	My daddy left home when I was three

	D
	And he didn't leave much to ma and me

	E	A
	Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of	booze.

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

	D
	But the meanest thing that he ever did

	E	A
	Was before he left, he went and named me "	Sue."

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

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

	E	A
	It seems I had to fight my whole life	through.

	A
	Some gal would giggle and I'd get red

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

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

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

	D
	My fist got hard and my wits got keen,

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

	A
	But I made a vow to the moon and stars

	D
	That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars

	E	A
	And kill that man who gave me that awful	name.

	A
	Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July

	D
	And I just hit town and my throat was dry,

	E	A
	I thought I'd stop and have myself a	brew.

	A
	At an old saloon on a street of mud,

	D
	There at a table, dealing stud,

	E	A
	Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "	Sue."

	A
	Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad

	D
	From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,

	E	A
	And I knew that scar on his cheek and his	evil eye.

	A
	He was big and bent and gray and old,

	D
	And I looked at him and my blood ran cold

	E	A
	And I said: "My name is 'Sue!'	How do you do!

Now you gonna die!!"

	A
	Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes

	D
	And he went down, but to my surprise,

	E	A
	He come up with a knife and cut off a	piece of my ear.

	A
	But I busted a chair right across his teeth

	D
	And we crashed through the wall and into the street

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

	A
	I tell ya, I've fought tougher men

	D
	But I really can't remember when,

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

	A
	I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,

	D
	He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,

	E	A
	He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him	smile.

	A
	And he said: "Son, this world is rough

	D
	And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough

	E	A
	And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya	along.

	A
	So I give ya that name and I said goodbye

	D
	I knew you'd have to get tough or die

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

	A
	He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight

	D
	And I know you hate me, and you got the right

	E	A
	To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you	do.

	A
	But ya ought to thank me, before I die,

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

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

	A
	I got all choked up and I threw down my gun

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

	E	A
	And I came away with a different point of	view.

	A
	And I think about him, now and then,

	D
	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!

Corrected by tictacjoe. View original

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A Boy Named Sue

Johnny Cash

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