James Brown & The Famous Flames — Dont Be a Drop Out

[Verse 1] Now a good friend of mine Sat with me and he cried He told me a story I know he hadn't lied Said he went for a job And Mr. Man said Without an education You might as well be dead Now don't get me wrong He said, it's not who you are But people come to me From near and far But I do just what And I follow the rules I didn't have an education So I had to go back to school [Verse 2] My friend told all his buddies That he loved so well And of their personal troubles I will not tell Now those guys didn't seem good And they didn't seem bad They didn't seem so happy And I know they weren't sad But the point isn't That they follow the rules They got an education And they all been in school Now underneath his tears I could see the true fact When he dropped out of school He never, never went back [Chorus] You gotta, gotta listen now now What he said Without an education You might as well be dead Look here [Verse 3] So one day he got tired Of his little spending change So he looked up his friends To check their pay range When he got there, the crib He found that he was a drag Because man, they were clean And his clothes were like rags One was a business man With plenty of dough He had his thing so set up You know he couldn't blow The other had his job so uptight He had his whole family And his kids all out of sight [Chorus] Tell me one more time now What he said Without an education Might as well be dead You got to, got to, got to get a little learning What he said Without an education Might as well be dead Look here [Verse 4] What made him so hurt That these were his friends and he was a drag They looked at him And he was in the same old bag For his friends they worked real hard When the work day was through Now, he realized He should have done the same thing too [Chorus] Tell me one more time now, looka here What he said Without an education Might as well be dead You got to, got to, got to get a little learning now What he said Without an education Might as well be dead [Verse 5] For the last time, I'm gonna say They kept on pushing When the going was tough And now they know That things don't seem so rough So kids, stay in school Don't be no drag Take a fool's advise And stay out of that bag [Chorus] Tell me one more time What he said Without an education Might as well be dead You got to, got to, got to, got to get some learning now What he said Without an education Might as well be dead [Outro] Don't be a drop-out, stay in school now listen to me What he said Kids, kids Might as well be dead No, no What he said Without an education Might as well be dead