I Never Picked Cotton

-- By Johnny Cash (Unchained album 1996)

Chorus I never picked cotton

like my mother did and my brother did

and my sister did

and my daddy died young

in a coal mine

1. When I was just a baby

too little for the cotton sack

I played in the dirt while the others worked

til they couldn't straighten their backs

and I made my self a promise

when I was old enough to run

that I'd never stay a single day

in that Oaklahoma sun

And I...

2. 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

and it was fast cars and wiskey

long legged girls and fun

I had everything that money could bring

and I took it all with a gun

And I...

3. It was Saturday night in Memphis

when a redneck grabbed my shirt

and he said go back to your cotton sack

I left him lyin in the dirt

and they'll take me in the morning

to the gallows just outside

and in the time I've got their aint a hell of a lot

I can look back on with pride

But I...

Chorus X2

tabbed by Darren Marynick

marynick@meena.uregina.ca