The bills are all due and my baby needs shoes
But I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound
But I'm busted
I got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that get bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away
I'm busted.

I called brother Bill, thought I'd get me a loan
I was busted
Lord, I hate to beg like a dog for a bone
But I'm busted
But Bill said that "There ain't a thing I can do,
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu,
And I was just thinkin' about callin' on you,
I'm busted."

Now Lord, I'm no thief, but a man can go wrong
When he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone
I'm busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my family's gotta pack up and go
Where I'll make a living, the Lord only, knows
I'm bust