Back in the depression
People lost hope
Ran outta work to do
Sometimes all we had
Was our faith to cope
The only thing to pull us through
My grandad told me this
When I was real young, I'll never forget
His face when he begun
He said
The only advice that I have in this life
I can pass on to you
Is that tough times don't last
Tough people do
He said tough times don't last
Tough people do
Now jobs have gone
Away from my state
Some people can't buy food
I thought they'd be down
But the smiles on their face
Told me they'd make things improve
My grandad told me this
When I was real young, I'll never forget
His face when he begun
He said
The only advice that I have in this life
I can pass on to you
Is that tough times don't last
Tough people do
He said tough times don't last
Tough people do
I got laid off
They shut down my job
I'll have to cut back to get through
But I heard what he said
When I was a kid
And there's never been when words were so true
My grandad told me this
When I was real young, I'll never forget
His face when he begun
He said
The only advice that I have in this life
I can pass on to you
Is that tough times don't last
Tough people do
He said tough times don't last
Tough people do
Tough times don't last
Tough people do
That's right
Uh-huh