Working Poor
from Journey Home by Tom Smith
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumPhysical CD in digipak packaging, includes lyrics.
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about
In memory of my father, Thomas E. Smith. Thanks to Bob Franke.
lyrics
Working Poor
by Tom Smith, TomSmithMusic.com
My wife and me, an old twin bed
The baby’s crib in common threads
Three older boys sleep knee to knee
A single room, a family
Times are hard. It’s day to day.
I grub for work that does not pay
For both this room and pork ‘n beans.
Pay days are few. Pay days are lean.
Chorus:
And they call us working poor
But I know what I work for
My wife, four kids and me
A single room, a family
Day-labor camp, it’s 4 a.m.
Eight bucks an hour, I’ll take what I can
I sell my work. I join the mob.
Forty men for every job.
But for that church, on Bowdoin Street
We could not bathe, we would not eat.
Just mac and cheese, my children cry
They eat the cheese, I eat my pride
[Chorus]
Every night, before I sleep
I pray to the lord, my soul I’ll keep
Until my sons can see the day
My honest work, brings honest pay
Final Chorus:
They won’t call us working poor
My boys will know, that I work for
My wife, four kids and me
A home, a family
Tag:
My wife, four kids and me
Our home, our family
by Tom Smith, TomSmithMusic.com
My wife and me, an old twin bed
The baby’s crib in common threads
Three older boys sleep knee to knee
A single room, a family
Times are hard. It’s day to day.
I grub for work that does not pay
For both this room and pork ‘n beans.
Pay days are few. Pay days are lean.
Chorus:
And they call us working poor
But I know what I work for
My wife, four kids and me
A single room, a family
Day-labor camp, it’s 4 a.m.
Eight bucks an hour, I’ll take what I can
I sell my work. I join the mob.
Forty men for every job.
But for that church, on Bowdoin Street
We could not bathe, we would not eat.
Just mac and cheese, my children cry
They eat the cheese, I eat my pride
[Chorus]
Every night, before I sleep
I pray to the lord, my soul I’ll keep
Until my sons can see the day
My honest work, brings honest pay
Final Chorus:
They won’t call us working poor
My boys will know, that I work for
My wife, four kids and me
A home, a family
Tag:
My wife, four kids and me
Our home, our family
credits
from Journey Home,
released November 6, 2011
by Tom Smith
(c) 2009, 2011 Peabody Hill Publishing (ASCAP)
Tom Smith: vocals, guitar
Mally Smith: vocals
Billy Novick: clarinet
Seth Connelly: bass
by Tom Smith
(c) 2009, 2011 Peabody Hill Publishing (ASCAP)
Tom Smith: vocals, guitar
Mally Smith: vocals
Billy Novick: clarinet
Seth Connelly: bass
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Tom Smith Boston, Massachusetts
“Folk music is still a living tradition that feeds on new songs that speak of people’s wants, needs, struggles and triumphs. Tom Smith is a man who writes songs that seem like they’ve always been there. There are very few songwriters working today that I would call folksingers, but I would call Tom Smith a true folksinger.” – Dave Palmeter, WUMB-FM Boston ... more
discography
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Dec 2020 -
Mar 2020 -
Nov 2011 -
Jan 2019
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