I was a poor boy, Papa, when you decided you would make me wealthy I had the sickness in my bones I was sure enough far from home You made me healthy I was rejected, dejected, uncorrected, unprotected, defected from my people I was contriving, cliff diving, capsizing, no freedom rising from that deep hole
But you made free, and I must sing You baptized me, just doin’ your thing
I had the feeling all along that there was something peering strong over my shoulder And it got closer through the years through abandonment and tears as I got older Hitchhiking through the wilderness and bearing all my consequence I was a stranger You picked me up on sixty six, met me with love and kindness instead of anger
And you made me free, and I must sing You baptize me, just doin’ your thing
Now it’s a quarter ‘til the clock strikes, and hopefully the shock might Hit you like a rock fight or like a butcher’s block might Quick as lightning shock kite comes the key to lock tight The door on which he knock right now until it’s not night Everybody walk tight rope until their chalk white hopes Are wiped away by the wind If the devil’s your friend you got a burden on your back And some poison in your blood It’s a burden to unpack, leave it behind in the mud Click clack goes the old smoke stack and when it leaves It ain’t never coming back So you best be ready when the train comes steady It’s rollin’ heavy ‘round the bends, get on board my friend For the land of Lord cause the levee’s gonna break, in the end
You made me free, and I must sing You baptized me, just doin’ your thing