Gil Scott-Heron
Blue Collar
I been down in Pennsylvania
Where I was working in the mine
And I been down in Cincinnati
They laid me off the assembly line
Yeah, they got me looking everywhere
But I ain't too proud of what I found
And you can't name where I ain't been down
'Cause there ain't no place I ain't been down

I was down in Kansas City
Where even the blues sell by the pound
And I been down in New York City, brother
And that ain't no place to be down
Yeah, I'm a-looking at the face of the children
You see, we're looking for a higher ground
And you can't name where we ain't been down
'Cause there ain't no place we ain't been down

We fell down somewhere
Between the cities and the towns
We went down, I know
Between the smiles and the frowns
And if they call me in the morning
I mean, I'd recognize the sound
'Cause you can't name where we ain't been down
There ain't no place we ain't been down
Standing in the shadows
It sho'nuff looks like rain
I see the steel-gray clouds above me
Yeah, well the anguish and the pain
Yeah, I been looking everywhere for peace
But I swear, there just ain't none around
But you can't name where I ain't been down
'Cause there ain't no place I ain't been down

We been down
Between the cities and the towns
Yeah, been down somewhere
Between the smiles and the frowns
And if they call me in the morning
I mean, I'd recognize the sound
'Cause you can't name where I ain't been down
There ain't no place I ain't been down