You rob and steal and kill because, "I" was raised in poverty
But you see that is no excuse for me
You beat your wife and children because you yourself were beaten
No excuses you make bears to me any repeating
You are beaten down in life never given a chance
The quiet girl standing sad and alone ask her to dance
There is no excuse for poverty or bad upbringing
We who have risen above the pain in deaf ears you are singing
Each man of his own if this world in change we are improving
The only excuse you have for failure is of your own choosing
I was once told it take one person to raise a family out of poverty
Am I bragging probably I am but I knew no choice that man was me
I was all the problems written above and told I could not succeed
They said I was slow but taught myself to write and read
At eighteen I was the first in my family to fight for my country
And the day I entered college they said the person a college would never see
I awoke in poverty and alcoholism but knew not to shed those tears
Blame your troubles on the world you are singing in deaf ears