(Intro)

1. I got rid of the shackles that bound me and the guards that were always around me
There were tears on the mail Mother wrote me in jail, but I'm free from the chain gang now
2. Back home, I was known and respected. Then, one day, I was wrongly suspected. So, they put me in chains in a cold, freezin' rain. But I'm free from the chain gang now
3. All the years I was known by a number. How I kept my mind is a wonder. And the bare prison cell that was one step from Hell. But I'm free from the chain gang now
4. I pray that the gossip will spare me when I return to the one I will marry. Like a bird in a tree, I got my liberty. And I'm free from the chain gang now