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
Salvation Army give us clothes to wear a man from the county came to cut our hair
We lived next door to a millionare but we wadn'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've had to brought a picnic lunch
My grandaddy's pension was a dollar and thirty-three cents
That was ten dollar less than the landlord wanted for rent
The landlord's letters got nasty indeed he wrote get out but pa couldn't read
And we was too broke to even pay heed but that's how it is when you're po' folks
[ harmonica ]
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've had to brought a picnic lunch
But we had something 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 howlin' 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 wadn't nothin' but po' folks
My mom and my dad was po' folks my brother and my sister was po' folks
My dog and my cat was po' folks and even the po' folks was po' folks