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.