I Never Picked Cotton

I never picked cotton
But my mother did, and my brother did, and my sister did

And my daddy die young workin' in a coal mine.
When I was just a baby too little for the cotton track



I played in the dirt while the others worked
And they couldn't straighten up their back
And I made myself a promise when I was big enough to run
That I'd never stay a single day in that Oklahoma sun
And ...

Folks said that I grew up early, and that the farm couldn't hold me then

So I stole ten bucks and a pick up truck and I never went back again
Then it was fast cars and whiskey, long haired girls and fun
I had ev'rything that money could bring and I took it all with a gun
And ...

It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt
And he said go back to your cotton sack, I left him dyin' in the dirt
And they'll take me in the mornin' to the gallows just outside
And in the time I've got there ain't an awful lot that I can look back on with pride

And ...