by Richie Havens

Step out in the night
	When you get lonely.
Listen for the sounds
	City ears don't hear.
I know your cross is getting
	Heavier with every step,
But I know a man
	Who's walked miles for you.

Stop! Stay the way you are,
	Take a look at yourself,
	Take a good look at yourself.
Can't turn to Mama
	'Cause she'd only tell ya she
	told ya so --
That some of us are still learnin'
	That the real trick to life
		we all know.

Light flashed today
	At the dawnin',
Daytime, Nighttime
	We still don't see.
Why must we wait
	Until mornin'
	To wake up and be
	Wake up and be.

Now you and I both know
	There's no such thing as up and down,
And even when your problems
	Got you goin' around and round
Gotta talk like a man to Papa
	'Cause he don't understand
	that other stuff.
Since we're part of the cross
	he's been carryin' --
I think our end has been draggin'
	Long enough.


All right, all right,
All right, all right, all right,
Pick it up, pick it up,
Pick it up, pick it up!

Transcribed from an article on Richie Haven's poetry by rsk@ecn.purdue.edu