I never picked cotton
But my mother did, and my brother did,
and my sister did
And my daddy died young,
workin' in a coal mine
When I was just a baby,
too little for a cotton sack
I played in the dirt while the others worked
Till they couldn't straighten up their backs
I made myself a promise
when I was big enough to run
That I'd never stay a single day
in that Oklahoma sun
But I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
and my sister did
And my daddy died young,
workin' in a coal mine
They said I grew up early,
and that farm couldn't hold me then
I stole ten bucks in a pick -up truck
and I never went back again
Then it was fast cars and whiskey,
long -haired girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring,
and I took it all with a gun
But I never picked cotton
But my mother did, and my brother did,
and my sister did,
and my daddy died young,
workin' in a coal mine.
In a Saturday night in Memphis,
when a redneck grabbed my shirt,
when he said,
go back to your cotton sack,
I left him dyin' in the dirt.
They'll take me in the morning
to the gallery just outside
In the time I've got there
ain't a heck of a lot
that I can look back on with pride
But I'll never pick cotton
But my mother did, and my brother did,
and my sister did
And my daddy died young,
workin' in a coal mine
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