In 1814 I heard it said Come to the mills and you'll get ahead Hard Times cotton mill girls Hard times everywhere.
Chorus: And it's hard times cotton mill girls Hard times cotton mill girls Hard times cotton mill girls Hard times everywhere. Those country folk they ought to be killed For leaving their farms, And coming to the mill. Hard timed, cotton mill girls Hard times everywhere.
Us poor girls work ten hours a day For fourteen cents of measly pay. Hard times, cotton mill girls Hard times everywhere.
They raised the wages a half a cent And the poor old girls didn't know what it meant, Hard times, cotton mill girls Hard times everywhere.
When I die don't bury me at all Just hang me up on the card room wall Pickle my bones in alcohol. Hard times everywhere.
Museum of New hampshire History. Mill Workers' Song Lyrics, www.nhhistory.org/edu/support/nhwork/millsongs.pdf