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- 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 he ever did
- Was before he left, he went and named me "Shoe"
- Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
- And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk
- It seems I had to fight my whole life through
- Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
- And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head
- I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Shoe"
- Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean
- My fist got hard and my wits got keen
- Roam from town to town to hide my shame
- But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
- I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
- And kill that man who gave 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 "Shoe"
- Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
- From a worn-out picture that my mother'd 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 'Shoe!' How do you do!?
- Now you gonna die!"
- Yeah that's what I told 'em
- 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
- 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 ya, I've fought tougher men
- But I really can't remember when
- He kicked like a mule and he 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 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 give ya that name and I said goodbye
- I knew you'd have to get tough or die
- And it's the name that helped to make you strong"
- Yeah 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 "Shoe"
- Yeah what could I do, what could I do
- I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
- Called him my Pa, and he called me his son
- And I come 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 son, I think I'm gonna name him
- Bill or George! Anything but Shoe! I still hate that name! Yeah
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