When I was a little boy my daddy used to say to me son
We got a little big land and a lotta hard work to be done
Go get your marbels put 'em in the house tear down your castles in the sand
Come with your pappy to the cotton patch and get a little dirt on your hands
Get a little dirt on your hands boy get a little dirt on your hands
If you're gonna grow up to be a big big man
(You gotta) get a little dirt on your hands (you gotta) get a little dirt on your hands

Well I got to be twenty and I thought I was a pretty big wheel
Left the country for the city met a slicker with a shady deal
He siad hold up the tavern take all the money run as fast as you can
If you're gonna get along in this big bad world
You gotta get a little dirt on your hands
Get a little dirt on your hands boy...

Well it's four in the morning and the warden is a calling my name
Says he's teaching me a lesson gonna send me out to work in the rain
Dig that ditch boy chop that corn I gotta make you understand
Only way to straighten out a guy like you is to get a little dirt on your hands
Get a little dirt on your hands boy...