I had a full-time job since the age of 16 Working really hard, I got my G.E.D

Nah, money don't grow on trees I got a double-wide trailer and some mouths to feed

Got snagged on a catfish line Bobbin' up and down, I'm gonna lose my mind

Don't know which way to go Should I paddle upriver or float down slow

I gotta pick myself up I gotta get back on track

I gotta pull so damn hard That I bust my bootstraps

Yeah, you gotta bust them bootstraps

A wad of muddy hens circling around I got them all bowed up cause they like the sound

Ooh, they hit the dance floor fast Beat gonna drop like a shotgun blast

Said, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh, doh

Her mama didn't raise no fool Got her Ph.D. cause she stayed in school

Now she's drunk as a tilt-a-whirl Dancing round the floor like some down-home girl

I see her looking at me But she lost all her senses and her faculties

Looking for a little hook-up sex No thanks, baby girl, I'll take the rain check

You gotta pick yourself up You gotta get back on track

You gotta pull so damn hard That you bust your bootstraps

Hey, you gotta bust them bootstraps Uh-huh, you gotta bust them bootstraps

Hey, let me help you Bust them bootstraps

It's the American dream You gotta swim upstream

That's why the destination Is this great nation

Now I'm just here digging this ditch Sun beating on my back like a son-of-a-bitch

Boss man don't care what I say Puts the cuffs around my ankles as he walks away

Nineteen and doing hard time For selling marijuana to a friend of mine

Now it's part of the American dream And I sure hope folks don't forget about me

We gotta pick ourselves up We gotta get back on track

We gotta pull so damn hard That we bust our bootstraps

Yeah, you gotta bust them bootstraps

Uh-huh, you gotta bust them bootstraps

Hey, let me help you Wanna bust them bootstraps

Yeah

Uh-huh, you gotta bust them bootstraps

Uh-huh, you gotta bust them bootstraps