Come to the door, Ma and unlock the chain
I was just passing through, I got caught in the rain
There's nothing I want, nothing that you need t'say
Just let me lay down for a while and I'll be on my way

I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen
With the police on my back I fled all the way down to New Orleans
I fought in the dockyards and with the money I made
I knew the fight was my home and blood was my trade

Baton Rouge, Poncitoula and Lafayette town
Well, they paid me their money, Ma and I knocked the men down
I did what I did, well, it came easily
Restraint and mercy, Ma, were always strangers to me

I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud
The rain poured through the canvas tent and mixed with our blood
In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw
And I stood over him, I pounded his bloody body right into the floor
Well, the bell rang and rang and still I kept on and on and on
'Till I felt my glove leather slip between his skin and bone

And the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track
The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black
I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets
I took my good share, Ma, you see, I have no regrets

Then I took the fix at the state army with big John McDowell
From high in the rafters I watched myself fall
As he raised his arm my stomach twisted and the sky it went black
I stuffed my bag with their good money, Ma and I never looked back

So understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game
If you know me one different then speak out his name
Ma, if my voice now, now you don't recognize
Then just open the door and look into your dark eyes
I ask of you nothing, not a kiss, not a smile
Just open the door and let me lay down for a while

Now the gray rain is falling, my ring fighting's done
So in the workfields and alleys, you see I take all who'll come
If you're a better man than me then come on and step up to the line, step right to the line
Show me your money and speak out your crime
Now there's nothing I want, Ma, nothing that you need t'say
Just let me lay down for a while and I'll be on my way

Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle in the dirt
I move to the center, I take off my shirt
I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain
Man, no time can erase
I move hard to the left and I strike to the face