Well it's hard times most everywhere
I think I've had more than my share
That man of mine's so hard to please
He's driving me right to my knees

We married young, I was a child
Guess he grew up some kind of wild
His daddy beat him 'til he was grown
It's the only life he's ever known

The way of men, it's a hard one, friends
The hearts of women, so hard to mend

He beat me bad the day we wed
Just thought the beer went to his head
He cried and loved me so gently then
My mother told me it's the way of men

But then my baby inside me lay
And he got mad at me one day
He swung his fist, the sheets turned red
And later that night she was born dead

The way of men, it's a hard one, friends
The hearts of women, so hard to mend

It isn't love that keeps me here
Somehow he'd find me anywhere
He said he'd kill me if I'd go away
May the devil in hell take him today

If I had wings like a turtledove
I'd fly away from the man I love
I'd fly so high, I'd fly so free
That the way of men would not touch me

The way of men, it's a hard one, friends
The hearts of women, so hard to mend