Shel Silverstein's Classic Poem: A Boy Named Sue

Well, my daddy left home
when I was three,
and he didn't leave much
to Ma and me,
just this old guitar
and a 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 folks,
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
and 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 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 laughin'
and then I heard him cussin',
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 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 try, every time I win
and if I ever have a son
I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George;
anything but Sue.

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