Chorus:
I never picked cotton
But [like] my mother did, and my brother did
And my sister did, and my daddy died young
Workin' in a coal mine

v.1
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 up their backs

An' I made myself a promise, when I was big enough to run
That I'd never stay one single day
In that Oklahoma sun

Rpt. Ch.

v.2
Folks said I grew up early, and that the farm couldn't hold me then
So I stole ten bucks and a pickup truck
An' I never went back again

Then it was fast cars and whisky, long haired girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring
An' I took it all with a gun

Rpt. Ch.

v.3
It was a Saturday night in Memphis, when a redneck grabbed my shirt
When he said "Go back to your cotton sack"
I left him dyin' in the dirt

Well they'll take me in the mornin' to the gallows just outside
And in the time I've got there ain't a helluva lot
That I can look back on with pride

Rpt. Ch.[like]