Favorite Hard Times Songs,Tell us your favorite songs about hard times.~Freeper Canteen~1-29-09

[fatima]

~Favorite Hard Times Song~





Ray Charles - Busted

My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I'm busted
I got a cow that went 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 cause I'm busted.

I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone, but I'm busted
My brother said there ain't 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.

Well, I am no thief, but a man can go wrong when he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and I'm busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow,
Me and my family got to pack up and go,
But I'll make a living, just where I don't know cause I'm busted.

I'm broke, no bread, I mean like nothing,

*Video*

Money - Pink Floyd

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and youre okay.
Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
Im all right jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, its a hit.
Dont give me that do goody good bullshit.
Im in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a lear jet.

Money, its a crime.
Share it fairly but dont take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise its no surprise that theyre
Giving none away.

*Video*

It's the hard-knock life

[ORPHANS]
It's the hard-knock life for us!

It's the hard-knock life for us!

[ANNIE]
'Steada treated,

[ORPHANS]
We get tricked!

[ANNIE]
'Steada kisses,

[ORPHANS]
We get kicked!

[ALL]
It's the hard-knock life!
Got no folks to speak of, so,
It's the hard-knock row we how!

[ANNIE]

Cotton blankets,

[ORPHANS]
'Steada of wool!

[ANNIE]
Empty Bellies

[ORPHANS]
'Steada of full!

[ALL]
It's the hard-knock life!

[ANNIE]
Don't if feel like the wind is always howl'n?

[KATE AND TESSIE]
Don't it seem like there's never any light!

[DUFFY AND JULY]

Once a day, don't you wanna throw the towel in?

[MOLLY AND PEPPER]
It's easier than puttin' up a fight.

[ANNIE]
No one's there when your dreams at night get creepy!
No one cares if you grow...of if you shrink!
No one dries when your eyes get wet an' weepy!

[ALL]
From all the cryin' you would think this place's a sink!
Ohhhh!!!!!!!
Empty belly life!
Rotten smelly life!
Full of sorrow life!
No tomorrow life!

[MOLLY]

Santa Claus we never see

[ANNIE]
Santa Claus, what's that?
Who's he?

[ALL]
No one cares for you a smidge
When you're in an orphanage!

[MOLLY]
(Making a whistling sound and imitating Miss. Hannigan)
You'll stay up till this dump shines
like the top of the Chrysler Building.

[ORPHANS]
Yank the whiskers from her chin
Jab her with a safety Pin
Make her drink a mickey finn

I love you, Miss Hannigan

[MOLLY]
(whistle) Get to work!
(whistle) Strip them beds!
(whistle) I said get to work!

[ALL]
It's the hard-knock life for us
It's the hard-knock life for us

No one cares for you a smidge
When your in an orphanage
It's the hard-knock life
It's the hard-knock life
It's the hard-knock life!

*Video*

Phil Collins - Another day in Paradise

She calls out to the man on the street
sir, can you help me?
Its cold and Ive nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?

He walks on, doesnt look back
He pretends he cant hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see shes been crying
Shes got blisters on the soles of her feet
Cant walk but shes trying

Oh think twice...

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that shes been there
Probably been moved on from every place
cos she didnt fit in there

Oh think twice...

*Video*

Billy Ocean - When The Going Gets Tough The Tough Get Going

When the going gets tough

The tough get going
Tough, tough, huh, huh, huh
When the going gets tough, the tough get ready

Yeah, ooooh, du da do da

I got something to tell you
I got something to say
I'm gonna put this dream in motion
Never let nothing stand in my way
When the going gets tough
The tough get going

I'm gonna get myself 'cross the river
That's the price I'm willing to pay
I'm gonna make you stand and deliver
And give me love in the old-fashion way

Woooh

Darlin', I'll climb any mountain
Darlin', I'll do anything

Ooh, (ooh) can I touch you (can I touch you)
And do the things that lovers do
Ooh, (ooh) wanna hold you (wanna hold you)
I gotta get it through to you, oooh

When the going gets tough
The tough get going
When the going gets rough
The tough get rough
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Ooooh baby

I'm gonna buy me a one-way ticket
Nothin's gonna hold me back
Your love's like a slow train coming (slow train coming)
And I can feel it coming down the track (woh)

Darlin', I'll climb any mountain
Darlin', I'll do anything
Ooh (ooh) can I touch you (can I touch you)
And do the things that lovers do
Ooh, (ooh) wanna hold you (wanna hold you)
I gotta get it through to you (ooh)
'Cos when the going gets tough
The tough get going
When the going gets rough
The tough get rough

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Wooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Darlin', I'll climb any mountain
Darlin', I'll swim every sea
Darlin', I'll reach for the heaven
Darlin', with you lovin' me
Oooh (oooh)

Oooh, can I touch you (can I touch you)
And do the things that lovers do (can I touch you)
Oooh, (ooh) wanna hold you (wanna hold you)
I gotta get it through to you

When the going gets tough
Going gets tough
Going gets rough
Going gets rough

Going gets tough
Going gets tough
Going gets rough
Going gets rough

*Video*

A Country Boy Can Survive

The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town

I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too

Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am

And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn

We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly

My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine

But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45

Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn

We’re from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land

And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

*Video*

Johnny Paycheck ~ Old Violin

Well, I can't recall, one time in my life,
I've felt as lonely as I do tonight.
I feel like I could lay down, and get up no more,
It's the damndest feelin'; I never felt it before.

Tonight I feel like an old violin,
Soon to be put away and never played again.
Don't ask me why I feel like this, hell, I can't say.

I only wish this feelin' would just go away.

I guess it's 'cos the truth,
Is the hardest thing I ever faced.
'Cos you can't change the truth,
In the slightest way. I tried.

So I asked myself,
I said: 'John, where'd you go from here?'
Then like a damned fool,

I turned around and looked in the mirror.


And there I saw, an old violin.
Soon to be put away and never played again.

So one more time, just to be sure,
I said: 'John, where in the hell do you go from here?'
You know that when a nickel's worth of difference,
And I looked in the mirror, that's when I knew.

That there I was seein', an old violin.
Soon to be put away, and never played again.

And just like that, it hit me,
That old violin and I were just alike.
We'd give our all to music,
And soon, we'd give our life.

*Video*

[jla]

‘Hard Times’ as sung by Lacy J. Dalton

[doosee]

How about “16 Tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt, St. Peter dont you call me cause I cant go, I owe my soul to the company store” - Tennesse Ernie Ford. Great tune.

[Doohickey]

The Kinks - Low Budget

Cheap is small and not too steep
But best of all cheap is cheap
Circumstance has forced my hand
To be a cut price person in a low budget land
Times are hard but we’ll all survive
I just got to learn to economize

I’m on a low budget
I’m on a low budget
I’m not cheap, you understand
I’m just a cut price person
in a low budget land
Excuse my shoes they don’t quite fit
They’re a special offer and they hurt me a bit
Even my trousers are giving me pain
They were reduced in a sale so
I shouldn’t complain
They squeeze me so tight so
I can’t take no more
They’re size 28 but I take 34

I’m on a low budget
What did you say
I’m on a low budget
I thought you said that

I’m on a low budget
I’m a cut price person in a low budget land

I’m shopping at Woolworth and
low discount stores
I’m dropping my standards so
that I can buy more

[Quality costs, but quality wastes,
So I’m giving up all of my expensive tastes.
Caviar and champagne are definite no’s,
I’m acquiring a taste for
brown ale and cod roes]

[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/2w9j ]
Low budget sure keeps me on my toes
I count every penny and I watch where it goes
We’re all on our uppers we’re all going skint
I used to smoke cigars but
now I suck polo mints

I’m on a low budget
What did you say
Yea I’m on a low budget
I thought you said that
I’m on a low budget
I’m a cut price person in a low budget land
I’m on a low budget
Low budget
Low budget

Art takes time, time is money
Money’s scarce and that ain’t funny
Millionaires are things of the past
We’re in a low budget film
where nothing can last
Money’s rare there’s none to be found
So don’t think I’m tight if
I don’t buy a round

I’m on a low budget
What did you say
Yes I’m on a low budget
I thought you said that
I’m on a low budget
I’m a cut price person in a low budget land
I’m on a low budget
Say it again
Low budget
One more time
Low budget

[I look like a tramp, but don’t write me off,
I’ll have you all know, I was once a toff
At least my hair is all mine,
my teeth are my own,
But everything else is on permanent loan.
Once all my clothes were made by hand,
Now I’m a cut price person
in a low budget land.
I’m on a low budget
I’ll have you all know
We’re on a low budget
I’m on a low budget]

[Canedawg]

I’ll go with Slowhand for this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwJx5fRjiw

[fatima]

I can’t find it with Lacy but I did find this.((((Hugs)))))
Bob Dylan: Hard Times [Live]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXZxMFzigUQ&feature=PlayList&p=902E7FA0E1026EA6&playnext=1&index=30

[BIGLOOK]

Aoha fatima!

Taxman by SRV is appropriately a favorite this time of year.

[mnehring]

All of these more are dealing with hard time songs..

Kind of dark for most FReepers, but I would have to say Depeche Mode’s Blasphemous rumors. (MTV banned the original video because it was so dark).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muziKxIyh5g

Others-
Garbage, I’m only happy when it rains. (sorry, major crush on Shirley Manson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdodc1Eu1nA

Seether and Amy Lee, Broken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoUOrLe4vlY&feature=rec-HM-rn

finally, for now, one of my all time favorites- Kamelot, The Haunting (you would need to know the whole epic story in the album to understand the connection to the theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWDALIOzXNk&feature=related

[JimC214]

Foghat - A Hole To Hide In - Woke up this mornin’ and I crawled out of bed,
I made a cup of coffee just to clear my head.
I felt all right ‘til I looked on the floor,
There was a pile of bills stacked against the door.
I went in the kitchen and drank another cup,
I sat down at the table and added it up.
When I discovered how much I owe,
I said, ooh, ooh, it's time to go.
Mailman stay away from my door,
Got too many bills I don't need no more,
I don't know what I'm gonna do, but while I'm deciding,
To save my soul, I'm going to find me a hole to hide in,
{Instrumental}
Everyday it's the same old thing,
I know in advance what the man's gonna bring.
Registered letters from all over town,
Those final reminders are gettin’ me down.
I once had money, but it's all been spent,
And now the landlord said he needs the rent.
Telephone company cuttin’ off my phone,
Why don't they all just leave me alone?
Mailman keep away from my door,
Got too many bills I don't need no more.
I don't know what I'm gonna do, but while I'm deciding,
To save my soul, I'm going to find me a hole to hide in.
Mailman, stay away from my door.
Mailman stay away from my door.
Mailman stay away from my door.
Mailman yea, stay away from my door, whoo

[fatima]

Thanks doosee (((((Hugs))))

Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings 16 Tons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joo90ZWrUkU

[Canedawg]

Here’s the softer, acoustic version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aDykZEATzk&feature=related

[Ben Hecks]

- I Bought the Shoes That Just Walked Out on Me

- I’ve Enjoyed as Much of This as I Can Stand

- How Come Your Dog Don’t Bite Nobody but Me?

[jla]

www.lacyjdalton.com

[fatima]

Thanks Doohickey :)
The Kinks - Low Budget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HEW5bXqKbU

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

CALIFORNIA COTTONFIELDS

My driftin’ mem’ry goes back to the spring of ‘43
When I was just a child in mama’s arms
My daddy plowed the ground and prayed that some day we could leave
This run down mortaged Oklahoma farm
Then one night I heard my daddy sayin’ to my mama
That he finally saved enough for us to go
California was his dream a paradise wall he had seen
Pictures in magazines that told him so
California cottonfields
Where labor camps were full of worried men with broken dreams
California cottonfields was as close to wealth as daddy ever came
[ rh.guitar ]
Almost everything we had was sold or left behind
From daddy’s plow and the fruit that mama canned
Some folks came to say farewell and see what all we had to sell
But some just came to shake my daddy’s hand
The Model A was loaded down and California bound
And a change of luck was just four days away
But the only change that I remember seeing for my daddy
Was when his dark hair had turned to silver gray
California cottonfields...
California cottonfields...

[GVnana]

“Midnight Special” by Huddy Ledbetter (Leadbelly)

[fatima]

Thanks Canedawg (((((Hugs))))

[sit-rep]

Boulevard of broken dreams...

[PeteePie]

Hobo Blues

I got a hole in my pocket
I done packed my old knapsack
I got a train to catch a mile on down the track
Well I been hanging around this old town way too many days
I got to ramble on and I must be on my way

I got the hobo blues
I gotta go gotta go God I got the hobo blues
When I hear that whistle blow some
I gotta move gotta move God
I got the hobo blues

Some women try to hold me but I keep on movin’ on
My hat don’t hang in nowhere for too long
‘Cause I’m caught up in the feeling of the singin’ brakemans song
I got the hobo blues deep down in my bones

When I die oh won’t you bury me in an old box car
With a coffee can and my old guitar
But make sure that I’m close enough to hear that passin’ train
I got the freight train fever chuggin’ through my veins

Author unknown.

[buccaneer81]

"I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight"...Atlanta Rhythm Section.

"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"...Monty Python.