[00:19.96]My daddy left home when I was three
[00:22.08]And he didn't leave much to Ma and me
[00:24.51]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
[00:27.94]Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[00:31.75]But the meanest thing that he ever did
[00:34.00]Was before he left, he went and named me 'Sue.'
[00:38.93]Well, he must o' thought that is was quite a joke
[00:42.05]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
[00:44.72]It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
[00:46.92]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[00:51.47]And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
[00:54.03]I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named 'Sue.'
[00:57.03]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
[01:03.20]My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
[01:05.63]I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
[01:09.20]But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
[01:12.74]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[01:15.18]And kill that man that give me that awful name.
[01:17.99]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[01:20.86]And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
[01:24.42]I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
[01:28.66]At an old saloon on a street of mud,
[01:31.28]There at a table, dealing stud,
[01:33.21]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me 'Sue.'
[01:36.90]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[01:40.83]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
[01:43.14]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
[01:46.51]He was big and bent and gray and old,
[01:50.00]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[01:52.63]And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' how do you do! Now you gonna die!"
[01:58.49]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[02:06.60]And he went down but, to my surprise,
[02:08.72]Hee up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
[02:12.21]But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[02:15.58]And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[02:18.34]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
[02:21.70]I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
[02:25.26]But I really can't remember when,
[02:27.82]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
[02:31.19]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
[02:35.06]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
[02:37.80]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
[02:40.67]And he said: "Son, this world is rough
[02:44.61]And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
[02:47.22]And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
[02:50.03]So I give ya that name and I said good-bye
[02:53.65]I knew you'd have to get tough or die
[02:56.58]And it's that name that helped to make you strong."
[02:59.52]He said: 'Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[03:04.57]And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[03:07.13]To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
[03:10.37]But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
[03:14.18]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[03:17.05]Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you 'Sue'.'
[03:20.73]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[03:27.28]And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
[03:30.03]And Ie away with a different point of view.
[03:32.09]And I think about him, now and then,
[03:36.52]Every time I try and every time I win,
[03:38.96]And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
[03:43.39]Bill or George! Anything but sue! I still hate that name!