Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
They don't have anywhere to go;
Wandering around from door to door.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.

Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can;
So many things a father can't understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.

Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can;
So many things a sister can't understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead.

When your mother is dead, when your mother is dead.
When your mother is dead, Lord, when your mother is dead.

Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
My home may be out on the highway,
Lord, I've done so much wrong
But please, give me strength to carry on.

Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
My home may be out on the highway,
Lord, I've done so much wrong
But please, give me strength to carry on.

I know a cat named Way-Out Willie,
Got a cool little chick named Rocking Millie.
He can walk and stroll and Susie Q
And do that crazy hand jive, too.

Mama, mama, look at Uncle Joe
Doing the hand jive with sister Flo.
Grandma gave baby sister a dime;
Said, "Do that hand jive one more time."

[Chorus:]
Hand jive, hand jive, hand jive,
Do that crazy hand jive.

Doctor and a lawyer and an Indian chief,
They all dig that crazy beat.
Way-Out Willie gave them all a treat
When he did that hand jive with his feet.

[Chorus]

Willie and Millie got married last fall.
They had a little Willie junior and that ain't all.
Well, the kids got crazy and it's plain to see,
Doing the hand jive on T.V.

[Chorus]

[Chorus:]
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's a man who's going to break your heart.
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's a man who's going to break your heart.

Well, you've been fooling 'round and I don't know why.
Left me on my own, sitting high and dry.
But I'm going to get you back, just you wait and see;
You can't do those things that you're doing to me.

[Chorus]

I've never needed a running 'round pissing hound,
Checking out the bitches in heat.
You've got a lot of nerve, dishing out what you serve,
Waggling your piece of meat.

[Chorus]

I want to get revenge on your sinful sins.
I got to get you back for what you did back then.
And now you've got it back, life is misery.
Well, ha ha ha to you, ha ha to me.

Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's the one that's going to break your heart.
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's the one that's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart.

Get ready, get ready, get ready.
He's the one who's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart.

Get ready, get ready, get ready.
'Cause he's the one who's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart.

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.
I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.

All around in my home town
They're trying to track me down.
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of a deputy,
For the life of a deputy.
But I say:

I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self-defense.
I shot the sheriff, and they say it is a capital offense.

Sheriff John Brown always hated me;
For what I don't know.
Every time that I plant a seed
He said, "Kill it before it grows."
He said, "Kill it before it grows."
I say:

I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self-defense.
I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self-defense.

Freedom came my way one day
And I started out of town.
All of a sudden I see sheriff John Brown
Aiming to shoot me down.
So I shot, I shot him down.
I say:

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.
I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.

Reflexes got the better of me
And what is to be must be.
Every day the bucket goes to the well,
But one day the bottom will drop out,
Yes, one day the bottom will drop out.
But I say:

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy, oh no.
I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy, oh no.

I just talked to my baby on the telephone,
She said, "Stop what you're doing and baby come on home."

[Chorus:]
I can't hold out,
I can't hold out too long.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone.

You said, "Baby don't you worry, you're my heart's desire.
You know that I love you, I can't stand to see you cry."

[Chorus]

She said, "Baby you can run, you can walk or fly.
You know that I love you, you're my heart's desire."

[Chorus]

I talked to my baby, I talked to my baby.
I talked to my baby, I talked to my baby.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone.

Oh my word, what does it mean?
Is it love or is it me
That makes me change so suddenly?
Looking out, feeling free.

Sit here lying in my bed,
Wondering what it was I'd said
That made me think I'd lost my head,
When I knew I lost my heart instead.

[Chorus:]
Won't you please read my signs, be a gypsy.
Tell me what I hope to find deep within me.
Because you can find my mind, please be with me.

Of all the better things I've heard,
Loving you has made the words
And all the rest seem so absurd,
'Cause in the end it all comes out unsure.

[Chorus]

Standing at the crossroads, trying to read the signs
To tell me which way I should go to find the answer,
And all the time I know,
Plant your love and let it grow.

[Chorus:]
Let it grow, let it grow,
Let it blossom, let it flow.
In the sun, the rain, the snow,
Love is lovely, let it grow.

Looking for a reason to check out of my mind,
Trying hard to get a friend that I can count on,
But there's nothing left to show,
Plant your love and let it grow.

[Chorus]

Time is getting shorter and there's much for you to do.
Only ask and you will get what you are needing,
The rest is up to you.
Plant your love and let it grow.

[Chorus 2x]

I am a steady rollin' man
And I roll both night and day.
I am a steady rollin' man
And I roll both night and day.
But I ain't got no sweet woman,
Woo-hoo Lord, to be rollin' this way.

I am the man that rolls
When icicles are hanging on the tree.
I am the man that rolls
When icicles are hanging on the tree.
Why can't you hear me begging mama,
Woo-hoo Lord, down on my bended knee?

[Repeat First Verse]

My heart was leaping in the sun;
My friends all say that you're the one.
Let me get this one thing very clear:
There ain't enough going on down here.

[Chorus:]
Mainline Florida, oh say.
Mainline Florida, O.K.

Her arms were open, open wide;
Her invitation's a changing tide.
I could remember not long ago
We took a cruise down on Hotel Row.

[Chorus]

[Repeat Second Verse]

[Chorus]

Life is what you make it,
That's what the people say.
And if I can't make it through tomorrow,
I'd better make it through today.

I have had my share of troubles;
It's nothing new to me.
When I look around me,
All I see is misery.

Life is what you make it,
At least that's what the people say.
And if we can't make it through tomorrow
We'd better make it through today, through today.
Through today.