Rainbow Man

Jeff Bates

I was born in Alabama

But I never knew my mama

She gave me away at three months old

Some folks in Mississippi

Took me in and kept me

And treated me just like I was their own

A Holiness preacher-man's daughter

And a hard-workin' sharecropper father

My real mama was Apache

My real daddy? Hell, don't ask me

Mama says she don't remember him

And I'm sure somewhere in my hist'ry

I've got some slave blood in me

And some folks think that I look Mexican

I never really fit in anyplace

'Cause there's always a part of me to hate



I'm the Rainbow Man

That's who I am

I'm a little white and black and red and tan

I've got all these different colors in my skin

I'm the Rainbow Man



Well, I know you may doubt it

But if you stop and think about it

There's one common thing that we've all got

People from all countries

Come here because they're hungry

For what's cookin' in America's melting pot

We're all different but the same

Red's the only color in our veins



Well, I'm a Rainbow Man

Livin' in a rainbow land

I'm white and black and yellow and brown and red and tan

And I'm so proud of all the colors that I am

I'm the Rainbow Man



All these colors make me American

I'm the Rainbow Man