By: Jimmy Buffett
1970
Every day held a new surprise
I watched the hunger burning in my sister's eyes
The paste-board shack we called a home
Would haunt me in my dreams
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times

We never knew anything groovy
A dime meant bread and not a movie
The muscles that controlled my smile were rarely ever used
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times

Chorus:
I had to go 'cause I could see
I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon
I went off to find the moon

So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times

Chorus:
I had to go 'cause I could see
I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon
I went off to find the moon

So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times

There's nothing soft about
No, no, no, no hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
No, no, no, no those hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
I'm going to tell you about the hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
No, no, no, no hard times