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
And 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 gave us clothes to wear a man from the county came to cut our hair
We lived next door to a millionare 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
And if the wolf would ever come to our front door he'd had to brought a picnic lunch
My grandaddy's pension was a dollar and thirty-three cents
That was ten dollars less than the landlord wanted for rent
Oh 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 and that's how it is when you're po' folks
And 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
And if the wolf would ever come to our front door he'd had to brought a picnic lunch
But we had something in our house money can't buy
Kept us warm in the winter and cool when the sun's 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 how it is when you're po' folks and we wadn't nothin' but po' folks
My mama and my papa was po' folks my sister and my brother was po' folks
My dog and my cat was po' folks and that's how it is when you're po' folks