You can kill me if you can But the last thing you need's another dead man Writing with black ink on your page And I swear that death won't kill my rage For it'll take more to hold my tongue Than your prison and your knives and your clubs and your guns I don't want no peace prize I will not do what you say's wise I'm a birdman but there's no cage That's strong enough to hold my rage I don't want no peace prize I will not do what you say's wise I'm a birdman but there's no cage That's strong enough to hold my rage Now John Henry told his captain, That a man ain't nothing but a man But before I let this machine grind me down I'll die with my hammer in my hand So the birdman told his jailor A man ain't nothing but a man But before I let your system grind me down I'll die with my gun in my hand I don't want no peace prize I will not do what you say's wise I'm a birdman but there's no cage That's strong enough to hold my rage Those bells do ring, ding dong ding And I don't fear no guard When freedom come maybe with a gun Outside in the prison yard I'm a birdman, oh watch me fly I'm a birdman, death, sweet death She can't hold me