Lila Downs

Traveled seven hundred miles
Crossed the border to the States
With a plastic bottle running
Cross the desert in a shake

Come to English only country
Hidin from the minutemen
Come to make this place my home
Run a long, long way from then

Story of a lifetime
For the minimum wage

Well, they chased me through 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 sister in Des Moines
They ve been workin in this country
Pickin lettuce, washing floors

Story of a lifetime
For the minimum 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 late and sleep
Well, I need to be awake now
Cause I walk out in my sleep

When I see that black van comin
Then I know Im sure to run
Goddamn them agents caught me
Cuffed me on the spot

For the minimum wage

No one forced the boss to hire me
But its nearly been fifteen
When 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

Its my people doin the pickin
In the valley of the dolls
Its a decent job to work at
Any day Ill take this job

Ethiopian, Colombian, Pakistani, Cantonese
Every man that I run into
All the kitchens on the strip
And they re pluggin in them hours
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 minimum wage
For the minimum wage
For the minimum wage
For, for, for, for the minimum wage

Its a bumpy road to ride in
But I ll take it anytime
Its a bumpy road to take
But I ll take it day

Its a bumpy road to take
But I ll take it anytime
For the minimum wage.