Old Coat

Take off your old coat, and roll up your sleeves
 Life is a hard road to travel, I believe
 I look to the east, I look through the west
 A youth asking fate to be rewardin'
 But fortune is a blind god flying through the clouds
 And forgettin' me on this side of Jordan
 Take off your old coat, and roll up your sleeves
 Life is a hard road to travel, I believe
 Silver spoons to some mouths, golden spoons to others
 Dare a man to change the given order
 Though they smile and tell us, "All of us are brothers"
 Never was it true this side of Jordan
 Take off your old coat, and roll up your sleeves
 Life is a hard road to travel, I believe
 Like some ragged owlet with its wings expanded
 Nailed to some garden gate or boardin'
 Thus will I by some men all my life be branded
 Never hurted none this side of Jordan
 
 Take off your old coat, and roll up your sleeves
 Life is a hard road to travel, I believe