I worked in the cotton mill all my life,
I ain't got nothin' but a Barlow knife.
Hard time cotton mill girls,
Hard time everywhere.
Chorus (after each verse):
And it's hard times cotton mill girls,
Hard times cotton mill girls,
Hard times cotton mill girls,
Hard times everywhere.
Nineteen-fifteen I heard it said
Go to cotton country and get ahead
But it's hard times, cotton mill girls,
Hard times everywhere.
Gilmer to Barlow's a long long way
Down Ellijay to Cartecay.
It's hard times, cotton mill girls,
Hard times everywhere.
Us kids worked twelve hours a day
For fourteen cents of measly pay
Hard times, cotton mill girls,
Hard times everywhere.
When I die, don't bury me at all,
Just hang my body on the spinning room wall,
Pickle my bones in alcohol,
It's hard time cotton mill girls.