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

Now papa played the dobro this way and he'd go

[ dobro ]

When company would come around he kept the dobro hid

He knew he couldn't play the way the other players did

But the guitar's resonator was a gallon bucket lid

But papa played the dobro this way and he'd go

[ dobro ]

Well now that papa's gone away it's hanging by the flue

The top of it is busted and the strings are rusty too

It will never sound the way it did when it was new

When papa played the dobro this way and he'd go

[ dobro ]

And he'd go pam pam