Johnny Cash – A Boy Named Sue (Ukulele)

Bb
My daddy left home when I was three

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

F                                           Bb
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.

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

Eb
But the meanest thing that he ever did

F                                         Bb
Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."

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

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

F                                     Bb
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.

Bb
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red

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

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

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

Eb
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,

F                                     Bb
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.

Bb
But I made a vow to the moon and stars

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

F                                        Bb
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Bb
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July

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

F                                    Bb
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.

Bb
At an old saloon on a street of mud,

Eb
There at a table, dealing stud,

F                                       Bb
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."

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

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

F                                         Bb
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.

Bb
He was big and bent and gray and old,

Eb
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold

F                              Bb
And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!

Bb
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes

Eb
And he went down, but to my surprise,

F                                     Bb
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.

Bb
But I busted a chair right across his teeth

Eb
And we crashed through the wall and into the street

F                                                   Bb
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

Bb
I tell ya, I've fought tougher men

Eb
But I really can't remember when,

F                                       Bb
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.

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

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

F                                          Bb
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

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

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

F                                         Bb
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.

Bb
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye

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

F                                         Bb
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

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

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

F                                               Bb
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.

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

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

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

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

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

F                                         Bb
And I came away with a different point of view.

Bb
And I think about him, now and then,

Eb
Every time I try and every time I win,