You may write me down in history
With your bitter,twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, i'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you best with gloom?
'Cause i walk like i've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons aand suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
With your bitter,twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, i'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you best with gloom?
'Cause i walk like i've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons aand suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still i'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakend by soulful cries.
Does my houghtiness offend you?
Don't you take awful hard
'Cause i laugh like i've got gold mines.
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefullness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling i bear the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave
I rise
i rise
i rise.