I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Working 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 'til 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
Working 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
Working in the coal mine

It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt
And when he said: Go back to your cotton sack, I let 'em dying in the dirt
They'd take me in the morning to the gallows just outside
And in the time I've got there ain't a hell of a lot that I can look back on with pride

But I never picked cotton
Like my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and I never died young
Working in the coal mine

But I never picked cotton
Like my mother did and my brother did