Tear this poorhouse down When you know how to build it back Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown 'Til you can carry this country on your back Mama glued the Keds signs On the back of my little white shoes Daddy never crossed the picket line It was hard but we made it through Only had one little pair of stonewashed jeans With a label on the back I'm a product of the never-give-up American middle class Tear this poorhouse down When you know how to build it back Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown 'Til you can carry this country on your back I got my education at a school they could afford Scholarships went to the rich And the grants went to the poor So I stood behind the little downtown bar For spending money, books, and gas To be a certified member of the work-too-much American middle class Now daddy can't get his pension or Social Security Worked thirty damn years in a coal mine Feeding welfare families Struggle hard and hide it well, You sure ain't rich and you sure as hell Ain't poor enough to get one little break 'Cause everything would collapse Without the hardworking, God-loving members of The American middle class Tear this poorhouse down When you know how to build it back Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown 'Til you can carry this country on your back