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 beset with gloom? Just cause I walk as if I have oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like sun and like moon With the certainty of tides Just like hopes springing high Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed heads and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my sassinees upset you? (hahaha) Don't take it so hard, just cause I laugh (hahaha) As if I have gold mines, Diggin' in my own back yard. You can shoot me with your words. You can cut me with your lies You can kill me with your hatefulness But just like life, I'll rise. Does my sexiness offend you? (Oooh) Does it come as a surprise That I dance... As if I have diamonds At the meeting of my thighs Out of the hut of history's shame, I rise Up from a past rooted in pain I rise 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 miraculously clear I rise Bringing the gift that my ancestors gave, I am the hope and the dream of the slave. And so naturally, They'll go rising.