WELFARE STORE BLUES
As recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson, 1940.

1. Now me and my baby, we talked last night, and we talked for nearly an hour.
She wanted me to go down to the welfare store, and get a sack of that welfare flour,
But I told her: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."

2. "Now you need to go get you some real white man, you know, to sign your little note.
They give you a pair o' them cane-toad shoes, and one o' those old pinch-back soldier coats,"
But I told 'em: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."

3. President Roosevelt said of them welfare people: "They gon' treat ev'rybody right."
Say: "They give you a can o' them beans, and a can or two of them old tripe,"
But I told 'em: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."

4. Well now, me and my baby, we talked yesterday, and we talked in my back yard.
She say: "I'll take care o' you, Sonny Boy, just as long as these times stay hard,"
And I told her: "Yeah, babe, and I sure won't have to go,"
I say: "and if you do that for me, I won't have to go down to that welfare store."