Once in Cairo, as a matter of turf
The Get Back Kids put a man in the Earth
Took him down there, to the Dug Hill Road,
And laid him down to die there in the cold
I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so hard, don’t ever let me go
See I met the man once, not much bigger than a boy
And he told me of the time he was buried alive in southern Illinois
I said, ‘Please, help me,
I’ve spent seventeen days underground
Then I came around, and I got free’
He said, ‘I survived there, never being found,
On the will to see it through, where I’m bound
‘Everyday I grew weaker, and weaker still,
And day by day my fear grew into will
‘I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so good, I’ll never let you go
‘A week’s ration of water, all they gave me to employ,
But for that, I’d still be buried down in Illinois
He said, ‘It was hot, there, never being found,
Screaming all you can, never making a sound
‘Black as black there, swallows up your mind,
Into a darkness so deep, you’ll never find
‘I swear it’s true, Lord, I swear I know
I swear it so bad, that it never lets me go
‘See I’m trying to live now, though not bigger than a boy
To undo the damage done in southern Illinois’
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