I Never Picked Cotton
(Johnny Cash)

I never picked cotton
Like my mother did, and my brother did
And my sister did, and my daddy died young
Working in a coal mine

When I was just a baby, too little for the cotton sack
I played in the dirt while the others worked
Till they couldn't straighten up their backs
And I made myself a promise, when I was old enough to run
Then I'd never stay a single day
In that Oklahoma sun

And I never picked cotton
Like my mother did, and my brother did
And my sister did, and my daddy died young
Working in a coal mine

Folks said that I grew up early, and the farm couldn't hold me then
So I stole ten bucks and a pick-up truck
And I never went back again
It was fast cars and whiskey, long-legged girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring
And I took it all with a gun

And I never picked cotton
Like my mother did, and my brother did
And my sister did, and my daddy died young
Working in a coal mine

It was Saturday night in Memphis, when a red-neck grabbed my shirt
And he said 'Go back to your cotton sack'
I left him lying in the dirt
And they will 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
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 my daddy died young
Working in a coal mine