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 RISE

Does my sassiness upset you???
Why are you be set with glom???
Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room

Just like moon and Sun
with the certainty of tides
Just like hope springing high
Still I'll RISE........

Did you want to see me broken???
Bowed head and vowed eyes????
shoulders falling down like tearsdrop
weakened by my soulful cries???

Does my haughtiness offend you????
Don't you take it awful hard??
Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin my own backyard.

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 upset you?????
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs...???

Out of the hurts of history's shame
I RISE

Up from the past that's rooted in pain
I RISE

I am a black ocean, leaping and wide
welling and swelling I bear in tide

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I RISE

into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I RISE

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors
gave.....

I am the dream and the hope of slave

I RISE , I RISE , I RISE.........