Everyday i wake up 

and cry

wondering why i'm still alive 

i woke from sun up 

to sun down 

pulling a little fury thing 

my master cals cotton 

if i dont pull at least five hundred 

he strikes me on my back 

with a long strip of leather 

strike after strike after strike  

he hits me with no

care in his eyes 

just as like im the 

cow in the fields 

pulling the plow 

i thought i was a man 

a man that would protect his family 

no matter what 

to even imagine if 

my family would get caught 

running away 

would kill my soul 

but this is a life of a man 

that has been brought to this place 

called america 

just to be punished to live 

a life of a slave