Every day held a new surprise I watched the hunger burning in my sister's eyes The paste-board shack we called a home Would haunt me in my dreams 'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times There's nothing soft about hard times We never knew anything groovy A dime meant bread and not a movie The muscles that controlled my smile were rarely ever used 'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times There's nothing soft about hard times Chorus: I had to go 'cause I could see I wasn't meant for poverty The family ties were broken soon I went off to find the moon Chorus 2: So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime 'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times There's nothing soft about hard times Chorus Chorus 2 There's nothing soft about No, no, no, no hard times There's nothing soft about hard times No, no, no, no those hard times There's nothing soft about hard times I'm going to tell you about the hard times There's nothing soft about hard times No, no, no, no hard times