[Verse 1: Gil Scott-Heron]
Heard me a story about this brother
Heard he was more than a hundred years old
Beat up and robbed by friends of his, so he thought
Which proves this world can still be cold
But even old, bent Florida sunshine trees
Stand a little bit taller today
And you can hear the whisper from the seaside breeze
This is what they say:
Possum Slim
Don’t you mess with him
Yeah, the brother took all he could
This story don’t prove that he ain’t no good
Possum Slim (my man)
And don’t you mess with him
Brother said he been robbed so many times
I reckon he just couldn’t take it no more
He took a five-dollar bill downtown
With a bottle of gin
Birthday party for a woman he knows
(Knows her well)
But now they got Slim in a Florida jail
He’s waiting to go on trial
The Sun known Slim for a hundred years
The Sun can’t help but smile
Possum Slim is alright with me
And don’t you mess with him
(Got to understand)
The brother took all he could
This story don’t prove that he ain’t no good
Possum Slim (my man)
And I don’t want you to mess with him
(Feel the spirit moving)
[Bridge 1: Instrumental Break]

[Verse 2: Gil Scott-Heron]
Yeah, the brother took all he could
This story don’t prove that he ain’t no good
Possum Slim (Oh, the people power)
And don’t you mess with him

[Bridge 2: Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3: Gil Scott-Heron]
I heard me a story about this brother
(At the time) one hundred and five years old
(Done time)
Beat up and robbed by friends of his
Which proves this world can still be cold
Yeah, but now they got Slim in a Florida jail
Waiting to go on trial
The Sun known Slim for a hundred years
The Sun can’t help but smile and say
Possum Slim is alright with me
So don’t you mess with him
My man, my man, my man
Don’t you mess with my man
My man, my man, my man, brother man
Don’t you mess with my man
Oh, people power, oh, people power
Is the thing for the day
Oh, people power, oh, people power
Possum Slim is leading the way
Possum Slim
Don’t you mess with him