not mine, but shel silverstein wrote it, and johnny cash sang it so...
A Boy Named Sue by Shel Silverstein
Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now I don't blame him because he run and hid
but the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left he went and named me Sue.
Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folk,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I'd search the honky tonks and bars
and kill that man that gave me that awful name.
But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I'd thought i'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
there at a table dealing stud
sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue.
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, "My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you're gonna die."
Yeah, that's what I told him.
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
and he went down but to my surprise
he came up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth.
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
I tell you I've fought tougher men
but I really can't remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh' and then I heard him cuss',
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.
And he said, "Son, this world is rough
and if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die.
And it's that name that helped to make you strong."
Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought one helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you've got the right
to kill me now and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But you ought to thank me before I die
for the gravel in your guts and the spit in your eye
because I'm the nut that went and named you Sue."
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win
and if I ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George - anything but Sue.
