My papa was a hobo when they delivered me 

We didn't have a doctor cause he couldn't pay the fee 

But when the goin' got too bad to ease his misery 

Papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go 

[ dobro ] 

When company would come around he kept the dobro hid 

He knew he couldn't play the way the other players did 

Why the guitar's resonator was a gallon bucket lid 

But papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go 

[ dobro ] 

Well now that papa's gone away it's hanging by the flue 

The top of it's rusted and the strings're rusty too 

It won't ever sound the way that it did when it was new 

When papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go 

[ dobro ]