Last night I slept in a hobo camp
Down south of Cairo Georgia
About five miles out of town
By the railroad track
Well I eat their stew
I drunk their brew
And I smoked their stale tobacco
I stood up to their open fire
And I warmed my back
And in the meantime me and this one
Particular hobo we struck up a conversation
And I'm sure he must have noticed my surprise
When he told me how his old man died
And left him sole heir to a million dollars
And how he gave it all away and he chose a hobo's life
Because he said son there's better things in life
Well there's some things gold and silver just can't buy
He said boy I'd rather sleep here
On this dry creek bed
With a wrinkled up overcoat to pillow my head
Than fight that livin' high up on the hog
Tryin' to keep ahead
Till my head's in a fog
Son there's better things in life
Than growing ulcers over money
There's better things in life
Sing children hey
Well I left Georgia
Got me a job in Opelika Alabama
Workin' for a man who drove me hard
And he paid me cheap yes he did
Well I watched this poor fool work so hard
Tryin' to make that almighty dollar
That he had to live on pills
From a drugstore down the street
Now like last spring
When income tax came due
He just sat around for days and worried
Losing good sleep tryin' to figure
How to cheat the government yes he did
He worked so hard that his nerves collapsed
And he woke up inside Central State Hospital
And on his taxes he got back
Fourteen dollars and some few cents
So let me tell you friends
There's better things in life
Well there's some things gold and silver just can't buy
Because now he's laying out flat on his back on the bed
His nerves all shot and he's out of his head
That hospital bill that'll make him holler
When he sees what he spent
Tryin' to save himself a dollar
Son there's better things in life
Than growing squirelly over money
There's better things in life
Sing children sing