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 a 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 a 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're rusty too 
It won't ever sound the way that it did when it was new 
When papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go