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 I'm 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 it's 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   It's the season for the crop      It's my people doin' the pickin'   In the valley of the dolls   It's a decent job to work at   Any day I'll 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      They´re 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      It's a bumpy road to ride in   But I'll take it anytime   It's a bumpy road to take   But I'll take it day      It's a bumpy road to take   But I'll take it anytime   For the minimum wage