Listen, baby, I have a message for everybody under the sound of my voice.
I want you to listen to me for just a few minutes and lend me your ear.
I'll put something on your mind.
Listen to me, baby.
A long time ago, before I was born,
Oh, baby, my mama told me a story.
Today it's pretty well known.
She said things were cheap, Lord,
But money was so hard to get.
She said liquor was out of line.
But what can we do? Work a little harder.
Pray a little longer. Love a little longer.
Get things together, baby, yeah.
Oh, Lord, Lord, that's what you gotta do now.
Now listen, listen.
Parents say go to school and the teachers strike against the rules.
Black people are really becoming black, Lord, and today that's where it's at.
Politicians say go to school, but how can we when we can't learn the rules, Lord?
I got to work hard to keep what I got, children.
What can we do? Work a little harder.
Love a little longer. Pray a little longer.
Get things together, baby, yeah.
Can't you feel it, Lord?
It's just a message to the children, baby, Lord.
I want you to ever feel the sound of my voice, baby.
Oh, baby.
Lord, can you tell your baby, Lord?
Everybody.
You got to feel it, you got to feel it.


Yeah, but I don't know if I do or never.