Chords for Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (Lyrics) EXPLICT

[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Well, my daddy left home when I was three [Eb] and he didn't leave much to maw and me, [F] just
this old guitar and an empty bottle [Bb] of booze. _
Now, I don't blame him because he [Eb] run and hid, but the meanest thing that he ever did
[F] was before he left, he went and [Bb] named me Sue. _ _
_ Well, he must have thought that it was [Eb] quite a joke and it got a lot of laughs from a lot of [F] folks.
It seems I had to fight my [Bb] whole life through.
_ Some gal would giggle and I'd get [Eb] red and some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his [F] head.
I'll tell you, life ain't easy for a [Bb] boy named Sue.
_ _ _ _ _ Well, I grew up quick and I grew up [Eb] mean.
My fists got hard and my wits got [F] keen.
Rode from town to town to [Bb] hide my shame.
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars [Eb] I'd search the honks and [Bb] bars [F] and kill that
man that gave me that [Bb] awful name.
_ _ Well, it was Gatlinburg in [Bbm] mid-July and I'd just hit [Eb] town and my throat was [Bb] dry.
[F] I thought I'd stop and have [Bbm] myself [Bb] a brew.
_ At an old saloon on a [Eb] street of mud, there at a table dealing [F] stud, sat the dirty manger
[Bb] dog that named me Sue.
_ Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet [Eb] dad from a worn out picture that my mother'd [F] had.
And I knew that scar on his cheek and [Bb] his evil eye.
_ He was big and bent and gray and [Eb] old and I looked at him and my blood ran [F] cold and I
said, my name is Sue.
[Bb] How do you do?
Now you're gonna die.
_ Yeah, that's what I told him. _
_ Well, I hit him hard right between the [Eb] eyes and he went down but to [Bb] my [F] surprise, come
up with a knife and [Bb] cut off a piece of my ear.
_ Well, I busted a chair right across his [Eb] teeth and we crashed through the wall and into the
street, [F] kicking and a gouging in the mud and the [Bb] blood and the beer.
_ I tell you, I've fought tougher men but I really can't [Eb] remember when.
[F] He kicked like a mule and he bit like a [Bb] crocodile. _
_ I heard him laugh and then I [Eb] heard him cuss and [Bbm] he went for [Eb] his gun and I pulled mine [F] first.
He stood there looking at me and [Bb] I saw him smile.
He said, son, _ this world is rough and if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be [Eb] tough.
[F] And I know I wouldn't be there [Bb] to help you along.
_ So I give you that name and I said [Eb] goodbye.
I knew you'd have to get tough or [F] die and it's that name that helped [Bb] to make you strong.
_ Yeah.
He said, now you just fought one hell of a fight [Ebm] and I know you hate me [Ab] and you got the
right [F] to kill me now and I wouldn't blame you if [Bb] you do.
_ _ But you ought to thank me before I die [Eb] for the gravel in your guts and the spit in your
eye [F] because I'm the son of a bitch that named [Bb] you Sue.
_ Yeah, well what could I do?
What could I do?
[Eb] I got all choked [F] up and I threw down my [Eb] gun, called him a [Bb] pawn, he called me his son and
I come away with a different point of view.
_ And I think about him now [Eb] and then every time I try and every time I [F] win.
[Bb] 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.
_ _ _ [N] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Alright, thank you very much.
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_ [F] _ _ [C] _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _