Lyrics:

Travelled seven hundred miles

cross the border to the states

with a plastic bottle running

cross the desert in a shake

come to English only country

hidin' from the minute men

come to make this place my home

run a long, long way from them

story of a lifetime for the minimun wage



Well they chased me trough the desert

then the agents strapped me down

then they ask me why in Spanish

why you keep on comin' back

when I left my dad in Jersey

and my sisters in Des Moines

then been workin' in this country

pickin' lettuce, washing floors

story of a lifetime for the minimun wage



Well they raised me to eight dollars

cause I washed the dishes fast

well the boss he got me workin'

on the porch and in the back

then I wash the dish and rinse it

then I go home, then I sleep

well I need to be real careful

'cause I walk out in my sleep

when I see thah black van comin

then I know I'm sure to run

but a goddamn the agents caught me

and they caffed me on the spot

for the minimun wage



no one forced the boss to hire me

but it's nearly been fifteen

well I left my baby cryin' with

a promise in my skin

on the outskirts of L.A. I recite

a native poem million hands

ten thousand years, its the season

for the crop, it's my people doin

the pickin' in the valley of the dolls

it's a decent job to work it any day

I'll take this job



Ethiopian, Colombian, Pakistani, Cantonese

every man that I run into

all the kitchens on the strip

and they're plugginin them hours

and they're smilin' in their dreams

theyre a long, long way from home now

but they lookin' to be free

California, Alabama, and Missouri, Oregon

they been workin' like their fathers were

a long, long time ago

for the minimun wage



It's a bumpy road to ride in

But I'll take it anytime

It's a bumpy road to take

But I'll take it every day



It's a bumpy road to take

But I'll take it anytime

For the minimum wage