The bills are all due and my baby need shoes but I'm busted

Cotton is down to a quarter a pound but I'm busted

I got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay

A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day

The county will haul my belongings away I'm busted

I called brother Bill to get me a loan I was busted

For I hate to beg like a dog for a bone but I'm busted

But Bill said that there ain't a thing I can do

My wife and my kids're all down with the flu

And I was just thinking of calling on you I'm busted

[ fiddle ]

Now Lord I'm no thief but a man can go wrong when he's busted

The food that we canned last summer is gone I'm busted

The fields're all bare and the cotton won't grow

Me and my family's got to pack up and go

But I'll make a living the Lord only knows I'm busted