I can recall a dirt road to a rice field where my daddy would go  

to teach me how to till the earth and sand 

And I remember that old Pontiac and that road out of town 

To take me to mamma's promise land  

Yeah I grew up in the city and all our family wondered how   

it was We’d tell them stories when we could  

with nice cloths, nice shoes, there was so much that we knew  

Two points of view will do anybody good  

I know north and I know south  

I know places most of us around here could do without  

Yeah I got a life quite different from my kin  

But some day they always knew that I’d be back again  

Thinking back to 17, the boy you're looking at man he was mean   

there wasn’t much in world he cared about   

There were people he ignored that would always open their door for him   

If ever he needed help  

But ain’t it funny how 10 years and a whole host of fears   

can bend and shape you into something a little more  

And you finally awake to a gift only heaven can make  

A family, rich even when it’s poor  

I know north and I know south  

I know places most of us around here could do without  

Yeah I got a life quite different from my kin  

But some day they always knew that I’d be back  

Oohh oohh oohh, ooh oohh oohh ohh

And I know north and know south

I know places must of us around here could do without 

and I got a life quite different than my kin

Yeah I know north and I know south   

I know places most of us around here could do without   

and I got a life quite different from my kin   

But some day they always knew that I’d be back again