Come to the door Ma, and unlock the I was just passin through, I got in the rain Theres I want, nothin 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 Southern With the police on my back, I all the way down to New Orleans I fought in the dockyards, and with the money I I knew the fight was my home, and blood was my
Rouge, Ponchitoula, and Lafayette town Well, they paid me their money Ma, and I the men down I did what I did, well it came Restraint and mercy Ma always strangers to me
I fought Jack Thompson, in a field full of mud The rain poured through the tent,and mixed with our blood In the twelfth I slipped my tongue, my broken jaw and I stood him, I pounded his bloody body, right the floor Well the rang and rang, and still I kept on and on and on I felt my glove leather, slip between his skin and bone
Then the women and the came fast and the days I lost track The women red, the money green, but the were black I fought for the men in silk suits, to lay down their bets I took my good Ma, ya see I, I have no regrets
Then I took the fix at the state armory, big John McDowell oh, From high in the rafters, I 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 looked back
So understand, in the end Ma, man plays the game If you me one different, then speak out his name Ma, if my now, now you dont recognize Then just open the door, and into your dark eyes I ask of you nothin, not a kiss, not a smile, Just open the and let me lay down for a while
Now the gray rain is fallin, my fightins done So in the work fields and alleys,ya see I, I all who come If youre a better man than me, come on, and step up to the line, step right to the Show me money , and speak out your crime
Now theres nothin I want Ma, nothin that you say Just let me lay down for a and Ill be on my way
Tonight in a shipyard, a man draws a circle in the I move to the center, and I take off my I him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, Man no time can I move to the left, and I strike to the face