Reuben James in my song   You'll live again   And the phrases that I rhyme   Are just the footsteps out of time      From the time when I knew you   Reuben James   Hey, Reuben James all the folks around   Madison County cussed your name      Just a no count of colored man   Who'd steal anything that he can   And they always laid the blame   On Reuben James      Hey, Reuben James you still walk   The furrowed fields of my mind   The faded shirt, the wrinkled brow   The calloused hand upon the plow      I loved you then   And I love you now Reuben James      Hey, Flora Gray, well, the gossip   Of Madison County died with the child   And although your skin was black   You were the one who didn't turn your back      On a hungry white child   With no name Reuben James   Hey, Reuben James with your mind on my soul   And Bible in your right hand      You said turn the other cheek   There's a better world waitin' for the meek   In my head those words remain   From Reuben James      Hey, Reuben James you still walk   The furrowed fields of my mind   The faded shirt, the wrinkled brow   The calloused hand upon the plow      I loved you then   And I love you now Reuben James      Oh, Reuben James one cold dark day   They brought you from the fields   And that lonely pine box came   Just a preacher me and the rain   To sing one last refrain for Reuben James      Oh, Reuben James you still walk   The furrowed fields of my mind   The faded shirt, the wrinkled brow   The calloused hand upon the plow      I loved you then   And I love you now Reuben James