Richie havens no opportunity nessessary lyrics

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed

by Richie Havens



Step out in the night

	When you get lonely.

Listen for the sounds

	City ears don't hear.

I know your cross is getting

	Heavier with every step,

But I know a man

	Who's walked miles for you.



Stop! Stay the way you are,

	Take a look at yourself,

	Take a good look at yourself.

Can't turn to Mama

	'Cause she'd only tell ya she

	told ya so --

That some of us are still learnin'

	That the real trick to life

		we all know.



Light flashed today

	At the dawnin',

Daytime, Nighttime

	We still don't see.

Why must we wait

	Until mornin'

	To wake up and be

	Wake up and be.



Now you and I both know

	There's no such thing as up and down,

And even when your problems

	Got you goin' around and round

Gotta talk like a man to Papa

	'Cause he don't understand

	that other stuff.

Since we're part of the cross

	he's been carryin' --

I think our end has been draggin'

	Long enough.





All right, all right,

All right, all right, all right,

Pick it up, pick it up,

Pick it up, pick it up!



Transcribed from an article on Richie Haven's poetry by rskecn.purdue