Rooster came to America Must have been a sight to see On a boat out of Africa 1823 Had to learn the customs here He got to know first hand How a man could own another man Since the time that he lived and died A whole lot of things have changed Still you know there's a lot of things Seem just about the same Now the sons of Rooster's sons are something we call friends They live across the railroad tracks from me It's a hard way to go We are going It's a long way around It don't have to be But it sure seems like to me That the only way we know is a hard way to go Set a price on a know enough The different between right and wrong A deadline for the time it takes To learn how to get along X amount of centuries X amount of pain A fair amount of pullin against the chain And its a hard way to go we are going It's a long way around It don't have to be but it sure seems like to me That the only way we know is a hard way to go Yeah the only way we know is a hard hard way to go