black man born free at least that s the way it s supposed to be the chains that binds him are hard to see unless you take this walk with me place where he lives got plenty of names slums ghetto and black belt they are one and the same and i call it soulsville any kind of job is hard to find that means an increase in the welfare lines the crime rate is rising too if you were hungry what would you do rent is two months past due on a building that s falling apart little boy needs a pair of shoes this is only a part of soulsville some of the brothers got plenty of cash the tricks on the corner gonna see to that some like to smoke and some like to blow some are even strung out on a fifty dollar jones some are trying to ditch reality by getting so high only to find out you can never touch the sky cause your roots are in soulsville oh yeah every sunday morning i can hear the sisters sayin hallelujah hallelujah trust in the lord to make a way oh yeah i hope that he hears their prayers cause deep in their souls they believe one day he ll put an end to all this misery that they have here in soulsville soulsville soulsville soulsville