[Verse 1]
Midnight in the promised land
Oh say can you see
Families in the rain, their belongings on the streets
Thanks to banks and politicians
Playing fast and loose
From sea to shining sea, we are broken near in two

[Chorus]
Hard times in this ol' town
Hard times all down the line
Hard times, harder than times in '29
There ain't no easy answers
There ain't no excuse
'Til they fix this mess I guess we just make the best out of the blues

[Verse 2]
'Round here there ain't no jobs
Homes are empty now
I hear tell it's rough up north and, getting tough down south
There's plenty of blame to go around
But blame won't pull us through
It's a shame the fools to blame got you blaming me and me blaming you

[Chorus]
Hard times in this ol' town
Hard times all down the line
Hard times, harder than times in '29
There ain't no easy answers
There ain't no excuse
'Til they fix this mess I guess we just make the best out of the blues
[Verse 3]
Yeah we've seen hard times before
We'll see more before they end
Time rolls on and on
We never pass this way again
No need to judge and wish and worry
Just go the way you choose
Give more than you take and make the best out of the blues

[Chorus]
Hard times in this ol' town
Hard times all down the line
Hard times, harder than times in '29
There ain't no easy answers
There ain't no excuse
'Til they fix this mess I guess we just make the best out of the blues

[Outro]
Yeah life's too short for bitching
Put on your dancing shoes
'Til they fix this mess I guess we just make the best out of the blues
'Til they fix this mess I guess we just make the best out of the blues