Well the boss man cut my chains and set me free Now I don't know, I don't know what will come of me I don't know nothing except the way I live … Now the boss man cut my chains And set me free My father was a working slave Just like me You learn to keep your head down Don't look to see What's going on all around you All my life been that way Now the boss man cut my chains And he walk away Now I can't write and I can't read
I have no school And here I'm standing in the world Like a worn out mule I don't know what is going to come now Or what will be Well now the boss man cut my chains Says him free What can I do What's going to become of me? I don't know nothing Except these working fields I see Oh now I'm standing on the outside With a fear inside me Now the boss man cut my chains And said I'm free