The bills are all due and the babies need shoes but we're busted Cotton is down to a quarter a pound and we're busted Got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day The county's gonna haul our belongings away we're busted [ fiddle ] I called brother Bill thought I'd ask for a loan we're busted Now we hate to beg like a dog for a bone but we're 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 we were just thinking of calling on you we're busted [ fiddle ] Now we are not thieves but you sure can go wrong when you're busted That food that we canned last summer is gone we're busted The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow So me and my family must pack up and go Where we'll make a living the Lord only knows we're busted