[00:09.857]My daddy left home when I was three
[00:11.877]And he didn't leave much to ma and me
[00:13.687]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
[00:18.938]Now' I don't blame him cause he run and hid
[00:21.380]But the meanest thing that he ever did
[00:23.308]Was before he left' he went and named me "Sue."
[00:29.509]Well' he must o' thought that is quite a joke
[00:31.880]And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk'
[00:34.500]It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
[00:38.890]Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
[00:41.330]I tell ya' life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."
[00:50.790]Well' I grew up quick and I grew up mean'
[00:53.100]My fist got hard and my wits got keen'
[00:56.100]I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
[01:00.220]But I made a vow to the moon and stars
[01:02.530]That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
[01:04.840]And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
[01:09.500]Well' it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
[01:10.840]And I just hit town and my throat was dry'
[01:14.660]I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
[01:19.300]At an old saloon on a street of mud'
[01:21.220]There at a table' dealing stud'
[01:23.780]Sat the dirty' mangy dog that named me "Sue."
[01:28.340]Well' I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
[01:30.840]From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had'
[01:33.300]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
[01:37.720]He was big and bent and gray and old'
[01:40.900]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
[01:43.100]And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
[01:48.100]Now your gonna die!!"
[01:52.900]Well' I hit him hard right between the eyes
[01:56.590]And he went down' but to my surprise'
[01:59.339]He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
[02:03.648]But I busted a chair right across his teeth
[02:05.898]And we crashed through the wall and into the street
[02:08.336]Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
[02:13.217]I tell ya' I've fought tougher men
[02:15.870]But I really can't remember when'
[02:17.647]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
[02:22.988]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss'
[02:24.917]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first'
[02:27.597]He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
[02:31.670]And he said: "Son' this world is rough
[02:34.567]And if a man's gonna make it' he's gotta be tough
[02:36.947]And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
[02:41.397]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
[02:43.957]I knew you'd have get to tough or die
[02:46.357]And it's the name that helped to make you strong."
[02:52.237]He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
[02:54.737]And I know you hate me' and you got the right
[02:57.779]To kill me now' and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
[03:01.667]But ya ought to thank me' before I die'
[03:04.227]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
[03:06.727]Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"
[03:11.588]
[03:14.807]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
[03:17.317]And I called him my pa' and he called me his son'
[03:20.288]And I came away with a different point of view.
[03:24.879]And I think about him' now and then'
[03:27.388]Every time I try and every time I win'
[03:29.247]And if I ever have a son' I think I'm gonna name him