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
Pumpin in my living room
Just like moons and like 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
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you
Don't you take it awful hard
Cause i laugh like I've got oil wells
Digging 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 hatefulness
But still, like air, I'll rise
Does my sexiness offend you?
Does it come as a surprise?
That I dance likeI have gold mines
At the meetng of my thighs??
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in shame
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts my heritage gave
I am the dream and hopes of the brave
I rise