When the foreman came, he helped me understand
That my destiny was mortar in the Almighty's hand
Then they shipped my ass and they worked me place to place
Then delivered me in the combines as a ward of the state

Mm, come to find me
I'm here today but don't belong
I'm working 'til the debt is gone
The upside of it
The upside of it
But in a most familiar way
I'm begging you to understand
I try to be a decent man
The upside of it
The upside of it

Night work shattered me with overtime and they fined me
White kids say they sympathise
But they're afraid to look me in the eyes
Up, up, up, up, up in the sky some place
I got treasures up in heaven and the state just takes the rest

I been working at the sawmill down in Kinleith for some time
I'm gonna save for my own furniture and kitchen down the line
But they make it hard to pay for things outside of cigarettes
Mm, it's just the jobs we're in, well, alright then, and amen

Come to find me
I'm here today but don't belong
I'm working 'til the debt is gone
The upside of it
The upside of it
And in a most familiar way
I'm begging you to understand
I try to be a decent man
The upside of it
The upside of it

In the unrelieved serenity back home
I wonder how they talk of me
Do I send the card with mountains on?
Or the one with all the riot police?
I don't open doors for the uniform
Skulking shadows that break in at the dawn time to haul us away
Do you know how it feels?
I can recite every libel and terrible thing I get
'Cause I built this place

Alrighty
I'm here until I don't belong
I'm working 'til the debt is gone
The upside of it
The upside of it
And in a most familiar way
I'm begging you to understand
I try to be a decent man
The upside of it
The upside of it

The upside of it
The upside of it