Homeless Persons' Memorial Day Top 100 Songs
​Song #66

Jimmy Buffet
"There's Nothin' Soft About Hard Times"

Jimmy Buffet is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".

Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a best-selling writer and is involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs; he owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain.

"There's Nothing Soft About Hard Times" was written by Buffet and appears on his debut studio album titled, Down to Earth. In the song Buffet sings about hard times growing up in a shack and watching his sister go hungry. He decides that a life of poverty is not for him, so he decides to leave his family behind only to wind up later sitting on a bench drinking wine and breathing the midnight air. 

"There's Nothin' Soft About Hard Times"
Lyrics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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