Started workin' here when I was 21
Summer of '56, my life had just begun
Back then this place was some place to be
Thought I could grow with the company
Never took a dime, never raised a fuss
Right is right, even for those of us
Who make a dollar while the man makes ten
They say hard work pays off in the end
Everything I got, I got from my own hands
Never wanted to be no company man
So I kept my eyes open, and my mouth shut
Saw my workload increase, and my pay get cut
Bought a house, started a family
Still had some faith in the company
Hard times hit '67 late
Heaven musta opened up the flood gates
My wife, she left me for some other guy
And in my heart, guess I always knew why
She was never gonna understand
Never wanted to be no company man
'79 brought a dose of reality
We'd all heard the rumors about the company
One day they shut us down, throughout the south
Keepin' my job meant movin' out
So I got hired on at the local factory
Couldn't see uprootin' my whole family
Never thought I'd be startin' over at this stage
Takin' shit from some punk half my age
No retirement, no hospital plan
Never wanted to be no company man
Long since retired now from the factory
Hardly ever think about the company
Kinda lonesome now the kids are grown
Moved away, families of their own
Got me a little house and a piece of land
Never wanted to be no company man
Sometimes in this world you got to make a stand
Never wanted to be no company man