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