Long faces, hangin' lips an' eyes without a smile,
Meegrims an' mulligrubs, mournfulness an' moans,
Faith in the future gone to glory for the while
I've seen it all a score o' times (said old George Jones).
I seen it all a year ago, if you will but recall:
I scoffed at it an' laughed at it while you was sittin' mum,
An' now a little twelve months has gone an' changed it all
Hard times is heavy, but the good times come.

See-saw, up an' down, life's like that,
Tho' memories is short like, an' men don't heed;
But have a bit of grey stuff beneath yer ole brown hat
An' sit a while an' think a bit - that's what men need.
Think a bit of yesterday an' what you used to be
Peerin' in the future with a sick, sad eye.
Well, here's a bit of future, it ain't such misery;
An' there's heaps more a'comin' in the sweet by-an'-by.

Hard times is heavy, but the good times come
See-saw, up an' down, life's like that.
I told you so a-yesterday when you was sittin' mum;
I'm tellin' you again today when times grow fat.
So, what's the use of playin' at the pessimistic trade
Meegrims an' mulligrubs, mournfulness an' moans?
Faith in the future, it has never been betrayed,
I've proved it all a score o' times (said old George Jones).