We got up before sunup to get the work done up
We'd work in the fields till the sun had gone down
We've stood and we've cried as we helplessly watched
A hailstorm a beatin' our crops to the ground
And I've gone to bed hungry many nights as a lad
In the good old days when times were bad
I've seen daddy's hands break open and bleed
And I've seen him work till he's stiff as a board
I've seen mama lay and suffer in sickness
In need of a doctor we couldn't afford
Anything at all was more than we had
In the good old days when times were bad