I Never Picked Cotton
But My Mother Did
And My Brother Did
And My Sister Did
And My Daddy Died Young
Working’ In The Coal Mine

When I Was Just A Baby
Too Little For A Cotton Sack
I Played In The Dirt
While The Others Worked
‘Til 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

Folks Said I Grew Up Early
And That The Farm Couldn’t Hold Me Then
So I Stole Ten Bucks And A Pickup 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
It Was Saturday Night In Memphis
When A Redneck Grabbed My Shirt
When He Said Go Back
To Your Cotton Sack
I Left Him Dying In The Dirt
They’ll Take Me In The Morning
To The Gallows Just Outside
And In The Time I Got
There Ain’t A Hell Of A Lot
That I Can Look Back On With Pride