John Mccutcheon - What It's Like lyrics

Do you know what it's like to work in there? Well, you start snatchin' guts and scrapin' hair And close calls, sure, I've had a few Each month you figure one or two But you punch the clock and you give what's due And you learn more 'bout Spam than you wish you knew Do you know what it's like when you first talk back? Well, you've worked like hell and you ain't been slack But the only thing they understand Comes down the line in four inch cans So you learn to shove when you know you're burned But you're turning back on all you've learned: Like, "Don't rock the boat", "Don't make a scene" "Don't draw attention", do you know what I mean? Do you know what it's like when you get the call? "There's a strike vote down at the union hall" So you pack up the kids and you drive to town But you ride in silence the whole way down 'Cause you're thinking about the days at home Long afternoons when you're there alone But you're not the first and when your kids ask why You say, "We might not win, but we'll damn well try!" Do you know what it's like to walk the line At ten below in the wintertime? When the sheriff and the National Guard Push you back in your own front yard And the cars roll by with their shouts and stares And you think no one in the whole town cares And you think, "I wasn't brought up this way! What's happening to my life? "What will my family say? They think I'm just a mother and a wife!" Do you know what it's like to be arrested in your own hometown In the broad daylight with your children 'round? And you feel the steel close on your wrists And your heart and your hands are clenched to fists And you lie in your cell and wrestle all night So full of doubt, so sure you're right And they said, "Don't break the law!", "Just mind the rules!" "Jail is for criminals and luckless fools!" Do you know what it's like when you think that you're all on your own And you suddenly find that you're not alone? It's in the papers, on TV: People who seem lots like me Little folks who find they're hurled Into the fires of this world And they're forged to silver and they're beaten to gold Till they find they have some strength untold So I'll take their hand and hold the line And rise to battle one more time