This is a song for the common one Who do everything that's ever been done Whose hands built the cities This is a song for you This is a song for my brothers and friends It's been said before but I'll say it again We fight the same battle that no one can win This is a song for you I sing for the hungry The tired and the torn For the ones with no chance From the day they were born I sing to the battered The beaten and the worn This is a song for you This is a song for the rank and the file Who take the first step Who go to the last mile From the great Mississipi To the river called Nile This is a song for you I sing to the honest To the upright and tall To the ones who are still fighting In spite of it all Who will pick up the pieces After the fall This is a song for you