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 'im 
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...