Oh I wash my hands
And I take my place
Bow my head
And clean my plate
I think and act
And I talk this way
For I was raised
In a state of grace
Well, I always know
Right where I am
From Muscle Shoals
Down to Birmingham
From the rolling hills
Clear to Mobile Bay
Where I come from
Is a state of grace
Well I'm up and down
And I'm left and right
Rich and poor
Black and white
I am not alone
I am not ashamed
To make my home
In a state of grace
Oh I hear the call
Of the whippoorwill
As the moonlight falls
Over cotton fields
And if I should die
Before I wake
I will lay me down
In a state of grace