Come to the Ma, and unlock the chain I was just passin through, I got in the rain Theres nothing I want, that you need say Just let me lay down for a and Ill be on my way
I was no more than a kid, when you put me on. the Queen the police on my back, I fled all the way down to New Orleans I in the dockyards, and with the money I made I knew the was my home, and blood was my trade
Baton Rouge, Ponchitoula, and Lafayette Well, they paid me their money Ma, and I the men down I did what I did, well it easily and mercy Ma were always strangers to me
I fought champion Jack Thompson, in a field of mud The rain poured through the canvas tent,and mixed our blood In the twelfth I my tongue, over my broken jaw and I stood over him, I his bloody body, right the floor Well the rang and rang, and still I kept on and on and on Till I felt my glove leather, slip between his and bone
Then the and the money came fast and the days I lost track The red, the money green, but the numbers were black I fought for the men in their silk suits, to lay their bets I took my good Ma, ya see I, I have no regrets
I took the fix at the state armory, with big John McDowell oh, From in the rafters, I watched myself fall As they raised his arm my stomach twisted. and the sky it went I stuffed my bag with their good money ma, and I never looked
So understand, in the end Ma, man plays the game If you know me one different, speak out his name Ma, if my voice now, now you dont just open the door, and look into your dark eyes I ask of you nothin, not a kiss, not a smile, Just open the door and let me lay for a while
Now the gray rain is fallin, my fightins done So in the fields and alleys,ya see I, I take all who come If youre a man than me, then come on, and up to the line, step right to the line Show me your money , and speak out your
Now theres nothin I want Ma, that you need say let me lay down for a while and Ill be on my way
Tonight in a shipyard, a man a circle in the dirt I move to the center, and I take off my I him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, Man no can erase I hard to the left, and I strike to the face