[Yvonne Fair & (James Brown)]
You know I'm sitting here (What you doin'?)
I'm sitting here just thinking
I'm thinking about the time my mother said to me
She said, "Baby, it's time for you to go out and make ends meet"
(Lord, that's right)
She said, "I want you to go out and make ends meet with your own voice"
And I remember my mother telling me there would be days like this
But I didn't believe her
I also remember my mother telling me
"When the time gets hard, and the going gets kinda tough
Don't give up" (Don't give up), don't give up (Don't give up)
Don't give up (Don't give up)
'Cause there's one thing you can always do
And there's one thing you can always say, and that is...

You can make it if you try
You can make it if you try
You can make it if you try, oh yeah
You can make it if you try

Sometimes you have to lie
Sometimes you have to cry
(I know what you're talkin' 'bout)
You're going to live until you die, whoa yes
You can make it if you try
I said, I said you can make it if you try
I'm telling you you can make it if you try
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah)
You can make it if you try, oh yeah
You can make it if you try