Po' Folks

There's a whole lotta people
Lookin' down their noses at me
'Cause I didn't come from a wealthy family
There was ten of us livin' in a two room shack

On the banks of the river by the railroad track
We kept chickens in a pen in the back
And everybody said we was po' folks
My daddy was a farmer but all he ever raised was us

Dug a forty foot well, struck thirty six gallons of dust
The Salvation Army gave us clothes to wear
A man from the county came to cut our hair
We lived next door to a millionaire
But we hadn't nothin' but po' folks

We was po' folks livin' in a rich folks world
We sure was a hungry bunch
If the wolf had ever come to our front door
He'd had to brought a picnic lunch

My granddaddy's pension was
A dollar and thirty three cents
That was ten dollars less than
The landlord wanted for rent

The landlord's letters got nasty
Indeed, he wrote get out but pa couldn't read
We were too broke to even pay heed
But that's how it is when you're po' folks

We was po' folks livin' in a rich folks world
We sure was a hungry bunch
If the wolf had ever come to our front door
He'd had to brought a picnic lunch

But we had somethin' in our house money can't buy
Kept us warm in the winter cool when the sun was high
For whenever we didn't have food enough
And the howling winds would get pretty rough

We patched the cracks and set the table with love
'Cause that's what you do when you're po' folks
And we hadn't nothin' but po' folks
My mom and my daddy was po' folks
My brother and my sister was po' folks
My dog and my cat was po' folks