How to Play A Boy Named Sue on Guitar?

Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue can be played in the key of G using the G, C, D chords. For G, To play G, press fret 2 on the A string with finger 2, let D, G, B ring open, mute low E, high E. For C, To play C, press fret 1 on the B string with finger 2, let low E, G, high E ring open, mute A, D. For D, To play D, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the G string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 2, let A, D ring open, mute B. Barre: Use your index finger to press multiple strings on the same fret, keeping your finger flat. You can play A Boy Named Sue with the ↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑ strumming pattern.

Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue Chords

Chord reference G, C, D

Rhythm tips ↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑

[G]My daddy left home when I was three [C]And he didn’t leave much to ma and me [D]Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of [G]booze. [G]Now, I don’t blame him cause he run and hid [C]But the meanest thing that he ever did [D]Was before he left, he went and named me “[G]Sue.”

[G]Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke [C]And it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk, [D]It seems I had to fight my whole life [G]through. [G]Some gal would giggle and I’d get red [C]And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head, I tell ya, [D]life ain’t easy for a boy named “[G]Sue.”

[G]Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean, [C]My fist got hard and my wits got keen, [D]I’d roam from town to town to hide my [G]shame. [G]But I made a vow to the moon and stars [C]That I’d search the honky tonks and bars [D]And kill that man who gave me that awful [G]name.

[G]Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid July [C]And I just hit town and my throat was dry, [D]I thought I’d stop and have myself a [G]brew. [G]At an old saloon on a street of mud, [C]There at a table, dealing stud, [D]Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me “[G]Sue.”

[G]Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad [C]From a worn out picture that my mother’d had, [D]And I knew that scar on his cheek and his [G]evil eye. [G]He was big and bent and gray and old, [C]And I looked at him and my blood ran cold [D]And I said: “My name is ‘Sue!’ [G]How do you do! Now you gonna die!!”

[G]Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes [C]And he went down, but to my surprise, [D]He come up with a knife and cut off a [G]piece of my ear. [G]But I busted a chair right across his teeth [C]And we crashed through the wall and into the street [D]Kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and [G]the beer.

[G]I tell ya, I’ve fought tougher men [C]But I really can’t remember when, [D]He kicked like a mule and he bit like a [G]crocodile. [G]I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss, [C]He went for his gun and I pulled mine first, [D]He stood there looking at me and I saw him [G]smile.

[G]And he said: “Son, this world is rough [C]And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough [D]And I knew I wouldn’t be there to help ya [G]along. [G]So I give ya that name and I said goodbye [C]I knew you’d have to get tough or die [D]And it’s the name that helped to make you [G]strong.”

[G]He said: “Now you just fought one hell of a fight [C]And I know you hate me, and you got the right [D]To kill me now, and I wouldn’t blame you if you [G]do. [G]But ya ought to thank me, before I die, [C]For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye [D]Cause I’m the son of a bitch that named you “[G]Sue.'”

[G]I got all choked up and I threw down my gun [C]And I called him my pa, and he called me his son, [D]And I came away with a different point of [G]view. [G]And I think about him, now and then, [C]Every time I try and every time I win, And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him [G]Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!

Artist Johnny Cash

Album At San Quentin

Genres Country

Year 1969

Key G

Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue can be played in the key of G using the G, C, D chords.

For G, To play G, press fret 2 on the A string with finger 2, let D, G, B ring open, mute low E, high E.
For C, To play C, press fret 1 on the B string with finger 2, let low E, G, high E ring open, mute A, D.
For D, To play D, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the G string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 2, let A, D ring open, mute B.

Barre: Use your index finger to press multiple strings on the same fret, keeping your finger flat.

You can play A Boy Named Sue with the ↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑ strumming pattern.