[Verse 1]
Now a good friend of mine
Sat with me and he cried
He told me a story
I know he hadn't lied
Said he went for a job
And Mr. Man said
Without an education
You might as well be dead
Now don't get me wrong
He said, it's not who you are
But people come to me
From near and far
But I do just what
And I follow the rules
I didn't have an education
So I had to go back to school

[Verse 2]
My friend told all his buddies
That he loved so well
And of their personal troubles
I will not tell
Now those guys didn't seem good
And they didn't seem bad
They didn't seem so happy
And I know they weren't sad
But the point isn't
That they follow the rules
They got an education
And they all been in school
Now underneath his tears
I could see the true fact
When he dropped out of school
He never, never went back
[Chorus]
You gotta, gotta listen now now
What he said
Without an education
You might as well be dead
Look here

[Verse 3]
So one day he got tired
Of his little spending change
So he looked up his friends
To check their pay range
When he got there, the crib
He found that he was a drag
Because man, they were clean
And his clothes were like rags
One was a business man
With plenty of dough
He had his thing so set up
You know he couldn't blow
The other had his job so uptight
He had his whole family
And his kids all out of sight

[Chorus]
Tell me one more time now
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead
You got to, got to, got to get a little learning
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead
Look here
[Verse 4]
What made him so hurt
That these were his friends and he was a drag
They looked at him
And he was in the same old bag
For his friends they worked real hard
When the work day was through
Now, he realized
He should have done the same thing too

[Chorus]
Tell me one more time now, looka here
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead
You got to, got to, got to get a little learning now
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead

[Verse 5]
For the last time, I'm gonna say
They kept on pushing
When the going was tough
And now they know
That things don't seem so rough
So kids, stay in school
Don't be no drag
Take a fool's advise
And stay out of that bag
[Chorus]
Tell me one more time
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead
You got to, got to, got to, got to get some learning now
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead

[Outro]
Don't be a dropout, stay in school now listen to me
What he said
Kids, kids
Might as well be dead
No, no
What he said
Without an education
Might as well be dead