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