Oh I wash my hands And I take my place Bow my head And clean my plate I think and act And I talk this way For I was raised In a state of grace Well, I always know Right where I am From Muscle Shoals Down to Birmingham From the rolling hills Clear to Mobile Bay Where I come from Is a state of grace Well I'm up and down And I'm left and right Rich and poor Black and white I am not alone I am not ashamed To make my home In a state of grace Oh I hear the call Of the whippoorwill As the moonlight falls Over cotton fields And if I should die Before I wake I will lay me down In a state of grace