My papa was a hobo when they delivered me We didn't have a doctor 'cause he couldn't pay the fee But when the goin' got too bad to ease his misery Papa played the Dobro this way and he'd go
When company would come around he kept the Dobro hid He knew he couldn't play the way the other players did Why the guitar's resonator was a gallon bucket lid But papa played the Dobro this way and he'd go
Well now that papa's gone away it's hanging by the flue The top of it's rusted and the strings are rusty too It won't ever sound the way that it did when it was new When papa played the Dobro this way and he'd go