Bill Anderson – Po’ Folks

“Po’ Folks” is a song written and recorded by American country singer-songwriter Bill Anderson. It was released as a single in June 1961 via Decca Records and became a major hit.

Was released as a single by Decca Records in June 1960. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart before reaching number nine in February 1960. It was Anderson’s second top ten hit as a recording artist. His first was his previous single release “Walk Out Backwards.” The song was not issued on a proper album following its release. However, it was later released on his 1962 compilation entitled Bill Anderson Sings Country Heart Songs. The album featured his biggest hits for the first several years of his recording career.

B-side “Goodbye Cruel World”
Released June 1961
Recorded April 24, 1961
Studio Bradley Studio
Genre CountryNashville Sound
Length 2:50
Label Decca
Songwriter(s) Bill Anderson
Producer(s) Owen Bradley

Bill Anderson – Po’ Folks Lyrics

There’s a whole lotta people lookin’ down their noses at me
‘Cause I didn’t come from a wealthy family
There was ten of us livin’ in a two room shack
On the banks of the river by the railroad track
We kept chickens in a pen in the back
And everybody said we was po’ folks

My daddy was a farmer but all he ever raised was us
Dug a forty foot well, struck thirty six gallons of dust
The Salvation Army give us clothes to wear
A man from the county came to cut our hair
We lived next door to a millionaire
But we wasn’t nothin’ ‘cept po’ folks

We was po’ folks livin’ in a rich folks’ world
We sure was a hungry bunch
If the wolf had ever come to our front door
He’d have had brought a picnic lunch

My granddaddy’s pension was a dollar and thirty three cents
That was ten dollar less than the landlord wanted for rent
The landlord’s letters got nasty indeed
He wrote ‘Get out’ but Pa couldn’t read
And we was too broke to even pay heed
But that’s how it is when you’re po’ folks
We was po’ folks livin’ in a rich folks’ world
We sure was a hungry bunch
If the wolf had ever come to our front door
He’d have had brought a picnic lunch

But we had something in our house money can’t buy
Kept us warm in the winter, cool when the sun was high
For whenever we didn’t have food enough
And the howlin’ winds would get pretty rough
We patched the cracks and set the table with love

‘Cause that’s what you do when you’re po’ folks
And we wasn’t nothin’ but po’ folks
My mom and my dad was po’ folks
My brother and my sister was po’ folks
My dog and my cat was po’ folks