Thursday, May 21, 2015

ATF: Old School

This series will include as many of my all-time favorite (ATF) tunes as I can get my grubby little hands on (so to speak).  Now, each one included in each edition will have some connection with the other—albeit only as a figment of my imagination, but they will not be numbered.  For I just cannot bring myself to rate some higher than others.  So, this will not be a countdown, but if you are enjoying them as much as I do, it won’t matter.  Besides, with no countdown, this could go on forever and ever!  Oh, and despite the fact that there is absolutely no way your musical tastes could be as exquisite as mine, I welcome any suggestions you might dare to make.  For I am, after all, quite magnanimous by nature.



A Boy Named Sue
Johnny Cash
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
‘Cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing
That my daddy ever did
Was before he left
He went and named me Sue

Well he must of thought that it was quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a lot of folks
It seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle
And I’d turn read
And some guy’d laugh
And I’d bust his head
I tell ya
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
I’d roam from town to town
To hide my shame
But I made me a vow
To the moon and stars
That I’d search the honky-tonks
And bars
And kill that man that give me
That awful name

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

Well I knew that snake my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother had
And I knew that 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

Well I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down but to my surprise
He come up with a knife
And cut off a piece of my ear
Then I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed though the wall and into the street
Kickin’ and a-gougin’
In the mud
And the blood
And the beer

Well I tell ya
I’ve fought tougher men
But I really can’t remember when
He kicked like a mule
And he bit like a crocodile
Well I heard him laugh
And then I heard him cuss
He went for his gun
And I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin’ 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 know I wouldn’t be there to help ya along
So I gave ya a 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
He said
Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me
And you got the right to kill me now
And I wouldn’t blame you if you do
But ya ought to thank me before I die
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
‘Cause I’m the son of a bitch that named you Sue

Well I got all choked up
And I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa
And he called me his son
And I came away with a different
Point of view
And I think about him
Now and then
Every time I try
And every time I win
And if I ever have a
Well if I ever have a boy
I think I’m gonna name him
Frank
Or George
Or Bill
Or Tom
Anything but Sue
I don’t want him going ‘round
Being called Sue all of his life
That’s a horrible thing
To do to a boy

Link: [Blondie]


Rapture
Blondie
Toe to toe
Dancing very close
Barely breathing
Almost comatose
Wall to wall
People hypnotized
And they're stepping
Lightly
Hang each night in
Rapture

Back to back
Sacroiliac
Spineless movement
And a wild attack
Face to face
Sadly solitude
And it's finger popping
Twenty-four hour shopping
In rapture

Fab Five Freddie told me everybody's fly
DJ's spinnin' are savin' my mind
Flash is fast
Flash is cool
Francois sais pas
Flashe' no do
And you don't stop
Sure shot
Go out to the parking lot
And you get in your car
And drive real far
And you drive all night
And then you see a light
And it comes right down
And lands on the ground
And out comes
A man from Mars
And you try to run
But he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead
And he eats your head
And then you're in
The man from Mars
You go out at night
Eatin' cars
You eat Cadillacs
Lincolns too
Mercurys
And Subarus

And you don't stop
You keep on eatin' cars
Then when there's no more cars
You go out at night
And eat up bars
Where the people meet
Face to face
Dance cheek to cheek
One to one
Man to man
Dance toe to toe
Don't move too slow
'Cause the man from Mars
Is through with cars
He's eatin' bars
Yeah
Wall to wall
Door to door
Hall to hall
He's gonna eat 'em all
Rapture
Be pure
Take a tour through the sewer
Don't strain your brain
Paint a train
You'll be singin' in the rain
I said
Don't stop
Do punk rock

Well now you see
What you wanna be
Just have your party on TV
'Cause the man from Mars
Won't eat up bars
Where the TV's on
Now he's gone back up to space
Where he won't have a hassle with the human race
And you hip-hop
And you don't stop
Just blast off
Sure shot
'Cause the man from Mars
Stopped eatin' cars
And eatin' bars
And now he only eats guitars
Get up

Lyrics From: [eLyrics.net]

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4 comments:

  1. I suppose you chose Cash because you were in San Quentin for the concert?
    Debbie Harry changed her name to Deborah as she wished to be more grown up.
    Then released 'French Kissing in the USA.'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Adullamite!!! Alas, I missed the concert because of still being held in the hole. I would think that anyone who saw Debbie's Playboy spread, which helped to launch her singing career, would think of her as being all grown-up. Well, not nearly as much as most of the ladies included, but still all grown-up.

      Delete
  2. my sis and i had an old 45 of 'a boy named sue' which we played a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear TWG!!! I don't remember just exactly when, but I do remember being 10-12 (I think) the first time I heard it over the radio and thinking that it was one of the craziest things I could even imagine. No, I had not got out much at the time. Still don't. Sigh.

      Delete

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