One man Does his work He's not satisfied Not at all Feels like That he is being used His self respect starts to fall His frustration Runnin' very very high He takes it out On the one he loves Because it's safe And who they gonna tell And he hates the cold-bloodedness That runs inside Oh yes It's hard times For an honest man Very very very hard times Hard times for an honest man Very very very hard times Sister She's got a lot of pride You can see it when she walks into the room But she's young And she's unaware Of what a brutal world can do to you So she loves a man He lies like a dog Tears her little world all apart So the walls go up For the rest of her days And there ain't no man can touch this girl's heart Oh yes It's hard times For an honest man Very very very hard times Hard times for an honest man Very very very hard times So we walk From the front porch to the back yard Just to laugh and say hello and say good-bye But some days are hard, like a soldier's steel-toed boots And the rent we pay to stay here gets high Oh yes It's hard times For an honest man Very very very hard times Hard times for an honest man Very very very hard times