You've been mean And your crying won't help you baby Oh, crying won't help you now You ought to do a little better, baby You ought to straighten up and fly right Oh no matter what you say baby No matter what you do The way you treat me baby You know, is

Mama been laid off Papa been laid off Billy can't get a job Don't let them stay home and listen to the blues My brother's been laid off For more than two years now Ooh can't get a job Ooh they gotta listen to the blues Help them to strive

So tell me, why do I keep holding on? Oh, why do I keep staring down the barrel of a loaded gun? Then tell me why can't I just can't let go? Somebody knows, then tell me She said she loved me, all night long I couldn't help but let her string my heart

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down If you can hold on Yeah, you know you got to help me out You know you got to help me out You're gonna bring yourself down Is there room

People help the people And if your homesick, give me your hand and I'll hold it Oh and if I had a brain, Oh and if I had a brain I'd be cold as a stone and rich as the fool God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts That turned all those

I can't just preach, baby, preach If I'm not even tryna make the change I wanna see I can't sit and hope, I Can't just sit and pray, that I can find a love, when All I see is pain And heaven knows I'm not helpless, yeah I can't see the use in me crying

Can you help me? Tell me what you want from me Baby, help me Without you, my whole world is falling apart Life's a prison when you're in love alone I need you to come back home (ooh, girl, I love you) I don't wanna be alone (you know I need you) You know

(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list My friends wonder why I call you all of the time What can I say I don´t feel the need to give such secrets away You think maybe I need help, no, I know that I´m right I´m just better off not listening to

Talk is cheap, my darling When you're feeling right at home I wanna make you move with confidence I wanna be with you alone Said help me help you start it You're too comfortable to know Throwing out those words Oh, you gotta feel it on your own You're a

So tell me, why do I keep holding on? Oh, why do I keep staring down the barrel of a loaded gun? Then tell me why can't I just can't let go? Somebody knows, then tell me She said she loved me, all night long I couldn't help but let her string my heart