Johnny Cash Follow
A Boy Named Sue lyrics
My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he ran and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue.
Well, he must of thought that is 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 a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave 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!" That's what I told him
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 knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the 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 came 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! Any damn thing but Sue! I still hate that name!
Part of these releases
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- Track 7 on The Essential Johnny Cash Disc 2
- 6 Girl From The North Country
- 8 If I Were A Carpenter
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- Track 10 on The Legend of Johnny Cash
- 9 Jackson
- 11 Sunday Morning Coming Down
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- Track 11 on 16 Biggest Hits
- 10 Daddy Sang Bass
- 12 Sunday Morning Coming Down
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- Track 17 on The Legend
- 16 Daddy Sang Bass
- 16 Oh, Lonesome Me
- 18 What Is Truth
- 18 So Doggone Lonesome
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- Track 5 on Johnny Cash
- 4 Folsom Prison Blues
- 4 Wreck Of The Old '97
- 6 Guess Things Happen That Way
- 6 My Treasure
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- Track 14 on The Best of Johnny Cash Disc 2
- 13 Sixteen Tons
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- Track 3 on Golden Hits
- 2 I Walk The Line
- 4 San Quentin
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- Track 5 on Platinum Collection
- 4 Folsom Prison Blues
- 6 Don't Take Your Guns To Town
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- Track 16 on Johnny Cash - Legend
- 15 Sunday Morning Coming Down
- 17 Highwayman
- 17 The Highwayman
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- Track 3 on The Very Best of Johnny Cash
- 2 Get Rhythm
- 4 Country Boy
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- Track 1 on San Quentin & Other Hits
- 2 Jackson
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- Track 1 on Man in Black
- 2 Ring Of Fire
- 2 Orphan of the Road
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- Track 3 on Walk the Line (disc 1)
- 2 I Walk The Line
- 4 San Quentin
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- Track 15 on The Best of Johnny Cash
- 14 Five Feet High And Rising
- 16 Guess Things Happen That Way
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- Track 1 on A Boy Named Sue / San Quentin
- 2 San Quentin
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- Track 5 on Ring of fire - The legend of Johnny Cash
- 4 Folsom Prison Blues
- 6 Big River
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