I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive
Now you’re [F] lookin’ at a man that’s gettin’ kind-a mad
I had lot’s of luck but it’s all been bad
No [C7] matter how I struggle and strive
I’ll never get out of this world a-[F] live.My fishin’ pole’s broke the creek is full of sand
My woman run away with another man
No matter how I struggle and strive
I’ll never get out of this world alive.A [Bb] distant uncle passed away [Bb7] and [F] left me quite a batch [F7]
And [Bb] I was livin’g high until that fatal [Bb7] day
A lawyer [C7] proved I wasn’t born
I was only hatched.—[F]Ev’rything’s agin’ me and it’s got me down
If I jumped in the river I would prob’ly drown
No matter how I struggle and strive
I’ll never get out of this world alive.These shabby shoes I’m wearin’ all the time
Are full of holes and nails
And brother if I stepped on a worn out dime
I bet a nickel I could tell you if it was heads or tails.I’m not gonna worry wrinkles in my brow
‘Cause nothin’s ever gonna be alright nohow
No matter how I struggle and strive
I’ll never get out of this world alive.
Say what you will about Hank’s addictions to alcohol and sodium hypochlorite, when the man gets it right he REALLY gets it right.
Allow me to explain:
After Wednesday’s paycheck, I found $1,105 in the bank.
Minus $400 for the mortage leaves $705.
Minus $225 for my biweekly student loan payment leaves $480.
Minus $100 for a personal IOU leaves $380.
Minus $96 for my car insurance leaves $284.
Minus $195 for car repair (the van has been sitting for almost a month unrepaired because I can’t afford it) leaves $89.00
That $89 is supposed to purchase my gas to drive to Syracuse and back to pick up my son, pay for our meals for the next week, pay to get us to New Jersey and back for Thanksgiving, and pay for us to get back to Syracuse next Sunday. And that doesn’t count the two credit card bills that are also due ($30 some bucks apiece) or the fact that i still haven’t bought fuel oil since that’s out of my price range this week as well. Or the old phone bill that’s probably in collections right now.
Now I have to take the next, humiliating step. At 36 years old, I have to ask my parents to loan me money, like some kind of fucking high school kid.
I’m a simple guy. I don’t have a lot of vices. I don’t gamble. I don’t go to fancy restaurants. I eat the same lunches every day, $1.95 boil-in-the-bag Indian meals from Trader Joes, sometimes the $1.39 tuna meals. My clothes are bought at the thrift store, including sneakers.
Yet I get creamed like this every fucking paycheck. And it’s not like I don’t make decent money (the $400 for mortage came out of my housemate’s pocket). I just don’t make enough money, and I’m sinking in debt. I work and work and work, and I literally have nothing to show for it. Nothing. The money belongs to someone else the minute it comes in.
That’s because I’m what you call “working poor”. I make too much to qualify for things like food stamps, public healthcare or anything like that. And let me tell you friend, there are a lot of us out here, skilled workers with college educations that can’t seem to get ahead no matter what we do. I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck for so long, I don’t even know the meaning of the word “savings”. And thanks to that dumb cunt in Canada, what few ducats I could be putting away head north in the form of a money order, for a kid I never get to see. And as my car repair clearly demonstrates, when you’re working poor, the tinest ripple in your finances can cause a tsunami of trouble.
But hey, Steny Hoyer, who helped engineer the Bankruptcy Bill that made it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy (while making it easier for corporations to do so), is the new majority leader in the House. So it’s good to see the Democrats looking out for our best interests.
Back in the day, the word was “sharecropper.” The differenc is that today, we have nicer houses, more stylish clothes, and fast cars.
3 Responses to “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive”
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November 17th, 2006 at 3:44 am
Yeah, I understand. I had to get a relative to front me some dough for rent last week (always a disgraceful feeling), so basically I have spent half of a contract job I’m doing before I’ve even gotten a check from them.
“We’re having a hard time/holding the thin green line…” - TV Smith (x-Adverts)
November 17th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
[...] I hate to beat a dying horse (it’s all too easy), but the class divide is also a major part of why newspaper circulation continues to drop like a brick. When you don’t have compelling economic forces in your own life, it’s hard to see them as important in anyone else’s. And if you truly don’t understand how those political issues relate to your readers, they will inevitably go elsewhere. [...]
November 24th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
I hear ya. After a panicked look for a new job, I could finally afford to pay for my own shoes this year. The first time in the 5 years since I graduate college with a BA where I have been able to do so.
And I used to work for the government!
Just found your writing here. Good work. Will come back and read some more.
P.S. Have you tried food shelves? They usually don’t require proof of being on assistance. That’s what was open to us when I was on strike three years ago. I lived with my parents then, so I could kind of scootch along on their left overs, but I recommended it to every working poor I came across. I grew up on government handouts and fair share food programs myself. Working poor I guess runs in the family. (Food fair share programs are awesome- $27 every two weeks plus 8 hrs of community service bought enough food for a family of 4. It wasn’t organic, but it was food.)