I Never Picked Cotton

I never picked cotton

But my mother did and my brother did

And my sister did and my daddy died young

Workin' 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 till they couldn't straighten their backs

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 I never picked cotton

But my mother did and my brother did

And my sister did and my daddy died young

Workin' in the coal mine.

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

So I stole ten bucks and a pickup truck and I never went back again

And 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 the coal mine.

It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt

And when he said go back in your cotton sack I let 'I'm dyin' in the dirt

They'd take me in the mornin' to the gallows just outside

And in the time I've got there ain't a hullava lot that I can look back on with pride.

But I never picked cotton

But my mother did and my brother did

And my sister did and my daddy died young

Workin' in the coal mine.

But I never picked cotton

But my mother did and my brother did

And my sister did and my daddy died young

Workin' in the coal mine...