Lord I'm down in Tupelo, Mississippi
Working on a prison farm
Lord I'm down in Tupelo, Mississippi
Working on a prison farm
Got three more years to be here
I'll be a full grown man, twenty one

Gave my youth to this coal pile
To pay for the wrong I've done
Gave my youth to this dirty coal pile
To pay for the wrong I've done
Got three more years to be here
Be a full grown man, age twenty one

I was born in the heart of the city
Raised by the mother's son
I was born in the heart of the city
Raised by the mother's son