Mister, cause I want to ride?
Down South where I come from
White and colored
Can’t sit side by side.
Down South on the train
There’s a Jim Crow car.
On the bus we’re put in the back—
But there ain’t no back
To a merry-go-round!
Where’s the horse
For a kid that’s black?
Kids say,In places likeChicago and New York…In places likeChicago and New YorkKids say,In places likeLondon and Paris…In places likeLondon and ParisKids say,In places likeChicago and New York…
That’s the reasonI stay aliveMy mottoAs I live and learnIs dig and be dug in return
Snow has friz me,Sun has baked me,Looks like between ’em they doneTried to make meStop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’-But I don’t care!I’m still here!
If ever I cursed my white old manI take my curses back.If ever I cursed my black old motherAnd wished she were in hell,I’m sorry for that evil wishAnd now I wish her wellMy old man died in a fine big house.My ma died in a shack.I wonder where I’m going to die,Being neither white…
Were it not for your eyes.I would liken youTo a sleep without dreamsWere it not for your songs.
You and your whole race.Look down upon the town in which you liveAnd be ashamed.Look down upon white folksAnd upon yourselvesAnd be ashamedThat such supine poverty exists there,That such stupid ignorance breeds children thereBehind such humble shelters of despair—That you yourselves have not the sense to careNor the manhood to stand up and sayI dare…
