What Its Like by John McCutcheon Lyrics
Do you know what it's like to work in there?
Well, you start snatchin' guts and scrapin' hair
And close calls, sure, I've had a few
Each month you figure one or two
But you punch the clock and you give what's due
And you learn more 'bout Spam than you wish you knew
Do you know what it's like when you first talk back?
Well, you've worked like hell and you ain't been slack
But the only thing they understand
Comes down the line in four inch cans
So you learn to shove when you know you're burned
But you're turning back on all you've learned:
Like, "Don't rock the boat", "Don't make a scene"
"Don't draw attention", do you know what I mean?
Do you know what it's like when you get the call?
"There's a strike vote down at the union hall"
So you pack up the kids and you drive to town
But you ride in silence the whole way down
'Cause you're thinking about the days at home
Long afternoons when you're there alone
But you're not the first and when your kids ask why
You say, "We might not win, but we'll damn well try!"
Do you know what it's like to walk the line
At ten below in the wintertime?
When the sheriff and the National Guard
Push you back in your own front yard
And the cars roll by with their shouts and stares
And you think no one in the whole town cares
And you think, "I wasn't brought up this way! What's happening to my life?
"What will my family say? They think I'm just a mother and a wife!"
Do you know what it's like to be arrested in your own hometown
In the broad daylight with your children 'round?
And you feel the steel close on your wrists
And your heart and your hands are clenched to fists
And you lie in your cell and wrestle all night
So full of doubt, so sure you're right
And they said, "Don't break the law!", "Just mind the rules!"
"Jail is for criminals and luckless fools!"
Do you know what it's like when you think that you're all on your own
And you suddenly find that you're not alone?
It's in the papers, on TV:
People who seem lots like me
Little folks who find they're hurled
Into the fires of this world
And they're forged to silver and they're beaten to gold
Till they find they have some strength untold
So I'll take their hand and hold the line
And rise to battle one more time
Well, you start snatchin' guts and scrapin' hair
And close calls, sure, I've had a few
Each month you figure one or two
But you punch the clock and you give what's due
And you learn more 'bout Spam than you wish you knew
Do you know what it's like when you first talk back?
Well, you've worked like hell and you ain't been slack
But the only thing they understand
Comes down the line in four inch cans
So you learn to shove when you know you're burned
But you're turning back on all you've learned:
Like, "Don't rock the boat", "Don't make a scene"
"Don't draw attention", do you know what I mean?
Do you know what it's like when you get the call?
"There's a strike vote down at the union hall"
So you pack up the kids and you drive to town
But you ride in silence the whole way down
'Cause you're thinking about the days at home
Long afternoons when you're there alone
But you're not the first and when your kids ask why
You say, "We might not win, but we'll damn well try!"
Do you know what it's like to walk the line
At ten below in the wintertime?
When the sheriff and the National Guard
Push you back in your own front yard
And the cars roll by with their shouts and stares
And you think no one in the whole town cares
And you think, "I wasn't brought up this way! What's happening to my life?
"What will my family say? They think I'm just a mother and a wife!"
Do you know what it's like to be arrested in your own hometown
In the broad daylight with your children 'round?
And you feel the steel close on your wrists
And your heart and your hands are clenched to fists
And you lie in your cell and wrestle all night
So full of doubt, so sure you're right
And they said, "Don't break the law!", "Just mind the rules!"
"Jail is for criminals and luckless fools!"
Do you know what it's like when you think that you're all on your own
And you suddenly find that you're not alone?
It's in the papers, on TV:
People who seem lots like me
Little folks who find they're hurled
Into the fires of this world
And they're forged to silver and they're beaten to gold
Till they find they have some strength untold
So I'll take their hand and hold the line
And rise to battle one more time