My mother told me 'fore she passed away Said girl, when I'm gone don't forget to pray 'Cause there'll be hard times Hard times Oh yeah, and who knows better than I Well, I soon found out just what she meant When I had to pawn my clothes just to pay my rent Talkin' about hard times Hard times Yeah, yeah, and who knows better than I I had a man, Lord, who was always around But when I lost my money and he put me down Talkin' about hard times You know those hard Yeah, Lord, who knows better than I Yeah, Lord, yeah, one of these days There'll be no more sorrow when I pass away And no more hard times I said no more hard Yeah, Lord, who know better, Lord Better than I