[00:05.78]My daddy left home when I was three
[00:08.32]And he didn't leave much to ma and me
[00:10.50]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
[00:15.31]Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[00:17.68]But the meanest thing that he ever did
[00:19.59]Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."
[00:25.87]Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
[00:27.92]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
[00:30.41]It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
[00:35.35]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[00:37.36]
[00:40.08]I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."
[00:47.12]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
[00:49.63]My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
[00:52.21]I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
[00:56.51]But I made a vow to the moon and stars
[00:59.00]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[01:01.68]And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
[01:06.09]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[01:08.58]And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
[01:11.37]I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
[01:16.23]At an old saloon on a street of mud,
[01:17.75]There at a table, dealing stud,
[01:20.21]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."
[01:26.44]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[01:28.28]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
[01:29.76]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
[01:34.13]He was big and bent and gray and old,
[01:36.48]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[01:39.02]And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
[01:43.03]Now your gonna die!!"
[01:51.50]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
[01:52.85]And he went down, but to my surprise,
[01:55.43]He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
[01:59.79]But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[02:02.17]And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[02:04.73]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
[02:09.33]I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
[02:11.49]But I really can't remember when,
[02:14.64]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
[02:18.77]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
[02:21.29]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
[02:23.95]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
[02:30.57]And he said: "Son, this world is rough
[02:32.34]And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
[02:34.08]And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
[02:37.81]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
[02:40.31]I knew you'd have to get tough or die
[02:42.93]And it's the name that helped to make you strong."
[02:47.37]He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[02:50.91]And I know you hate me, and you got the right
[02:53.58]To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
[02:57.97]But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
[03:00.41]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[03:02.79]Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"
[03:12.37]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[03:13.88]And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
[03:16.35]And I came away with a different point of view.
[03:20.52]And I think about him, now and then,
[03:23.50]Every time I try and every time I win,
[03:25.61]And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him