Here's my transcription from a recording at YouTube:


HARD TIME BLUES
Josh White, 1941.

1. Well, I went down home 'bout a year ago.
Things so bad, Lord, my heart was sore.
Folks had nothin'; was a sin an' a shame.
Ev'rybody said hard times was to blame.

CHORUS: Great God Almighty, folks feelin' bad,
Lost ev'rything they ever had.
Great God Almighty, folks feelin' bad,
Lost ev'rything they ever had.

2. They had skinny-looking children, bellies pokin' out,
That old pellagra without a doubt.
Old folk hangin' 'round the cabin door,
Ain't seen times this hard before.

3. Now the sun was a-shinin' fourteen days and no rain.
Hoein' and plantin' was all in vain.
They had hard, hard times, Lord, all around,
Meal barrel's empty, crops burned to the ground.

4. Then I went to the boss at the commissary store.
Folks all sobbin', "Please don't close your door.
We want more food and a little more time to pay."
Boss man laughed and walked away.

5. Now your landlord comes around when your rent is due,
And if you ain't got his money, take your home from you.
He'll take your mule and horse, even take your cow.
Says, "Get off of my land. You're no good nohow."


Slightly different lyrics are given in Josh White: Society Blues by Elijah Wald (New York & London: Routledge, 2000), page 80.