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 straight enough 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 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...

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 I never picked cotton...