Roughneck

(album: Blood, Sweat And Tears - 1963)

Born to be a roughneck
I'll never amount to nothing
Pulling case and laying pipe
Is hard labor

Well, I was born in a boomer shack
'Bout a half mile from town
Papa was a driller on a wildcat crew
And my mama never was around

I learn to cuss when I was two
And fight when I was three
And by the time I was five there was no kid alive
Could ever get the best of me

Born to be a roughneck
I'll never amount to nothing
Pulling case and laying pipe
Is hard labor

Well, I started working like a regular man
When I was just about knee high
Skinning the knuckles with my two bare hands
But they never heard me cry

I remember walking down the road
And hearing somebody say
He was born to live a rougneck's life
And he's never gonna change his ways

Born to be a roughneck
I'll never amount to nothing
Pulling case and laying pipe
Is hard labor

Born to be a roughneck
I'll never amount to nothing
Pulling case and laying pipe
Is hard labor