Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it, And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpe on the floor-Bare.
But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’
in the dark Where there ain’t been n light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on t steps. ‘Cause you finds it’s kind hard.
Don’t you fall now- For I’se still goin’,
honey, I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t bee no crystal stair.