And I’m just trying to find a girl
So that we can survive in a ruthless world
Gotta get permission from her pa
To get married to her under the law
Make enough money to pay the rent
And I hope I don’t die in a work related accident
But I still gotta find that girl so that we can survive in a ruthless world
A young man’s got nothing these days
Especially when he’s drank up the last of his money
Walking from Florence to Clarksdale
Searchin for some Hattiesburg honey
Who’ll take him in with a pleasant grin
And won’t leave him with a bill of sale
Who’ll at least let him keep the clothes on his back
And won’t put him down at the bottom of a well
They said follow your dreams you’re gonna go far
Be president or a movie star
But there’s no jobs, no homes, no hope
I’m clapsin’ at the frayed end of this rope
I looked for work from station to station
Money keeps getting more worthless from all the inflation
You gotta spend each dollar as quick as you can
You gotta hold your gun and defend your land
Is this the future that waits for me?
Will I be better off than my parents thought that I’d be?
And I’m just trying to find a girl
So that we can survive in a ruthless world
Get some work and farm the dirt
Have a couple of kids I hope they don’t get too hurt
I wonder if we’ll all be broke by then
Or if we’ll finally be free from sin
When the last battle flag is unfurled
At the end of this ruthless world
The homeless still occupy the park
And the businessmen still walk up to their bank
Missiles still fly and people still die
And everyone’s on the brink
The ships all have sailed and sank
But every boy in Aleppo knows more sorrow
Every rock and stone and pebble has cried
Everyone in Darfur wonders whether or not tomorrow
Will bring more murder and genocide
And I’m just trying to find a girl
So that we can survive in a ruthless world
Make enough money to pay off this debt
And try to hold on to the dreams that we have slept
If the oceans rise will I have to cover my eyes?
Will no one be there with me to sympathize
When all my evil deeds back at me are hurled
At the end of this ruthless world?