Last night I went to sleep in Detroit City
And I dreamed about those cottonfields and home
I dreamed about my mother dear old papa sister and brother
I dreamed about that girl who's been waiting for so long

I wanna go home I wanna go home oh how I wanna go home

Homefolks think I'm big in Detroit City
From the letters that I write they think I'm fine
But by day I make the cars by night I make the bars
If only they could read between the lines

Cause you know I rode the freight train north to Detroit City
And after all these years I find I was just wastin' my time
So I just think I'll take my foolish pride
And put on a Southbound freight and ride
And go on back to the loved ones I left waiting far behind

I wanna go home I wanna go home oh how I wanna go home

(Down in Dyess Arkansas and that part of the delta land where I grew up
I did my earliest singing and I learned my first songs
While picking or chopping cotton out in a cotton patch
Seems somebody was always singing while they worked
To help make the day go a little bit faster
I can remember my sister Louisie out in the cottonfields
She would keep us all cheered up by singing gospel songs and the hits of the days
And being a few years older than I was she'd teach me songs she'd say
I'm going to sing you this song three times
And then see if you're listening you sing it back to me
Sometimes she'd be way down the row picking ahead of me
And while she was waiting for me to catch up I could hear her singing)