Ain’t No Man Owns My Soul

(Verse 1)

Sun cuts sharp through a broken sky

Same red dust, same long goodbye

Rooster crows and the day begins

Same old chains on weathered skin

They count me like they count their stock

Mark my name on a splintered block

But I been talkin’ to the Lord at night

And He don’t see me the way they write

(Pre-Chorus)

They can brand my shoulder

They can steal my years

But they ain’t got the power

To own what’s in here

(Chorus)

Ain’t no man owns my soul

Ain’t no whip can take control

You can lock these hands in iron

But there’s a fire you can’t hold

I was born beneath God’s sky

Same as you, same right

You can chain my body low

But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Verse 2)

Heard my woman cry last spring

When they sold her weddin’ ring

Heard my little boy ask why

Grown men gotta live this lie

That question cut me deeper still

Than any lash or overseer’s will

I held him close in the dead of night

Said “Son, your worth ain’t theirs to write.”

(Pre-Chorus)

Word is war’s been risin’ fast

Blue coats marchin’ through the pass

Maybe freedom’s on that road

Maybe justice finally woke

(Chorus)

Ain’t no man owns my soul

Ain’t no whip can take control

You can lock these hands in iron

But there’s a fire you can’t hold

I was born beneath God’s sky

Same as you, same right

You can chain my body low

But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Bridge – stripped down, almost whispered)

I may never see the gates swing wide

May never walk on the other side

But I believe… I believe…

Chains don’t cross eternity.

(Break – gritty vocal rise)

You hear that thunder roll?

That ain’t the storm alone…

That’s the sound of freedom

Knockin’ on the door.

(Final Chorus – lifted, defiant)

Ain’t no man owns my soul

Write it in the dirt and stone

If I fall before that day

Let it be forever known

I stood tall though I was bound

Heaven heard without a sound

You can bury this old body low

But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Outro – quiet, worn but steady)

Sun goin’ down…

But I’m still free inside.