Lyrics:

I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
**lf**I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
**lf**It''s a shame, shame, shame, that a poor man have to live this way
**lf**
**lf**I came up the hard way, they kept me workin'' from sun to sun
**lf**I came up the hard way, they kept me workin'' from sun to sun
**lf**Well it seems somehow or another, that a poor man''s work ain''t never done
**lf**
**lf**Well my mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don''t forget the golden rule
**lf**My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don''t forget the golden rule
**lf**I had to go head-on and deal with it yes I did, cause I didn''t get, I didn''t get too far in school
**lf**
**lf**I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
**lf**I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
**lf**Ain''t it a shame, ain''t it a shame, that a poor man gotta live this way
**lf**
**lf**(guitar solo)
**lf**
**lf**My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don''t forget the golden rule
**lf**My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don''t forget the golden rule
**lf**That''s all I had to deal with, because I didn''t get too, too far in school
**lf**
**lf**(harmonica solo by Mack Simmons)