I was sitting in my kitchen, thinking about my life
How some men end up all alone, some men take a wife
How old men get discouraged and young men go astray
And for every sinful thing we do somehow we will pay

I got up to get my Bible, some pages fell onto the floor
It's an old one that my father had, and his father before
It's been with me since my childhood, I was saved in '52
When I look back at my troubled life I give thanks I made it through

I am free, I can see, and I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Why does it take so long
To learn to stand and be strong?

I grew up in San Francisco in a real rough neighborhood
Where they'd beat you bad if you were tough and worse if you were good
But I came through those times with a lot of love
For those boys who knocked me down
And I pray someday I'll see them, and we'll be standing on sacred ground

I am free, I can see, and I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me