Well my bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter of a pound I'm busted
I got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away I'm busted (he's busted)

I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted
Now I hate to beg like a dog for a bone but I was busted
My brother said there's not a thing I can do
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu
And I was just thinking about calling on you cause I'm busted (he's busted)

Though I am no thief but a man can go wrong if he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone I'm busted
Now the fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my wife we gotta pack up and go
I'll make a living just how I don't know cause I'm busted