My mother told me, before she passed away
Said son when I'm gone don't forget to pray
'Cause there'll be hard times, hard times, oh yeah
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' 'bout hard times, hard times, oh yeah
Who knows [Incomprehensible] better than I?

I had a woman, Lord, who was always around
But when I lost my money, then she put me down
Talkin' 'bout 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 knows, yeah Lord, better than I?

Copyright: BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Writer(s): Ray Charles