Old Joe Riley owned a fishing shack
With the ocean out front and the bay out back
He had a little boat and a fisherman's tan
When he wasn't out fishing he was sitting in the sand

Then the big boys came and they offered him millions
To put up some condos or a swank hotel
Old Joe Riley told them no thanks anyway
I could use the money but I just can't sell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell

Come on

He said "I've seen the cities eating up small towns
Where you can't smell the breeze and its cement ground
You pay to park your car but it ain't safe to walk
Nobody looks you in the eye, don't speak, don't talk"

So when the big boys came and they offered him millions
To put up some condos or a swank hotel
Old Joe Riley told them no thanks anyway
I could use the money but I just can't sell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell

Here we go

Yeah, the bank lock box there's a deed to some land
With his widow's gold ring a few grains of sand
Joe Riley's granddaughter's gonna face a big choice
I hope she remembers her granddaddy's voice

When the big boys came and they offered him millions
To put up some condos or a swank hotel
Old Joe Riley told them no thanks anyway
I could use the money but I just can't sell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell
A low rent heaven beats a high dollar hell

Come on