There was a man, came to see the USA from a foreign land To photograph the progress of dear old Uncle Sam He got off the boat in New York, went down to the Bowery I know what the man went to photograph and to see There were hopeless, hungry living dead Winos who sell their souls for a bottle of a cheapest red That's the picture that he wanted And that's what he got they say, America the ugly today He went to the Appalachians and he saw what we all have seen Where people live on bread and soup, fat back and pinto beans He saw the hungry children and he photographed the ragged clothes I guess we're gonna try to tell him that it ain't so There were good men standin' around with nothing to do Pregnant young women who didn't even have a pair of shoes The man got his pictures And what are we going to say, "America the ugly today" Then he went to the medicare centers and he saw the old people there It seems that the young generation just didn't want 'em in their hair He saw the poor man workin' it out while the mighty rich lives high And my friend that brings a gleam to the enemy's eyes There were some folks, had plenty and some had none at all The enemy knows when a heart gets hard, the country is bound to fall If we get heads and hearts together we won't have to hear them say "America the ugly today, America the ugly today"