Intro.:  (G) x 4 bars
         D            G
Back in '39 she was 26, the wife of a soldier tryin' to raise four kids
   C                                                  G    
On rationed out beans and watered down milk, tryin' to keep 'em all warm with a patchwork quilt
     Em                            D        C
That great depression ended about 1945, but grandma lived to be 92
     D                  C                 G      
See, tough times don't last, tough people do

(Chorus)
      G
Tough people pull themselves up by the bootstraps when they hit hard luck

And they stay strong and they keep on fightin' like they don't know how to lose
D                  C           G
 Tough times don't last, tough people do
      C                                                                   
Those talkin' heads on CNN, say we'll never get out of this hole we're in
             C                                             G
The price of gas is up and the market's down and there's a bunch of empty houses in every town
          Em                                  D
Well, I'd interrupt that program with a little headline of my own
     C
This just in from the old red, white and blue
D                 C           G     
Tough times don't last, tough people do

(Chorus)
      G
Tough people pull themselves up by the bootstraps when they hit hard luck

And they stay strong and they keep on fightin' like they don't know how to lose
D                 C           G   
Tough times don't last, tough people do
              
                G
I've been out of work since mid July, my bank account's about bone dry
     C                                       G  
Been lookin' for a job no luck so far, but I bought a little time when I sold my car
      Em                  D                             C
Well, I'll go dig a ditch if that's what it takes, baby, somehow or another we'll get through
D                 C     D                 C
Tough times don't last, tough times don't last

(Tag)
        G           G             G     G
Tough |(people do, |tough people | do |