text: Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain
  I was just passing through and got caught in the rain
  Theres nothing that I want, nothing that you need say
  Just let me lie down for a while and Ill be on my way
  I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen
  With the police on my back, I fled to New Orleans
  I fought in the dockyards and with the money that I made
  The fight was my home and blood was my trade
  Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula and Lafayette town
  They payed me their money, Ma, I knocked the man down
  Well I did what I did, yeah it come easily
  Restraint and mercy, Ma, were always strangers to me
  I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud
  Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood
  In the twelfth, slipped my tongue over my broken jaw
  And I stood over him and pounded his bloodied body into the floor
  Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on
  Until I felt my glove leather slip between his skin and bone
  And the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track
  The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black
  I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets
  I took my good share, Ma, I have no regrets
  I took the fix at the state armory with big John McDonald
  From high in the rafters, I watched myself fall
  As they raised his arm, my stomach twisted, and the sky it went black
  I stuffed my bag with their good money and never looked back
  Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game
  Well if you know anyone different then speak out his name
  Ma, if my voice now, you dont recognize
  Well just open the door and look into your dark eyes
  I ask of you nothing, not a kiss, not a smile
  Just open the door and let me lie down for a while
  Now the gray rain is falling and my ring fightins done
  So in the work fields and alleys, I take all wholl come
  If youre a better man than me, then just step to the line
  And show me your money and speak out your crime
  Theres nothing I want, Ma, nothing that you need say
  Just let me lie for a while and Ill be on my way
  Well tonight in shipyard, a man draws a circle in the dirt
  I move to the center and I take off my shirt
  I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, man, no time can erase
  I move hard to the left and I strike to the face