Will Rufus was a redneck
through and through
Drinkin' and fightin'
was all he ever knew
Born with a corncob in his mouth
In Thibodaux, Louisiana, way down south
His daddy died drunk with
a belly full of rum
His mama died waitin' for a
miracle to come
People said that old boy was
born to be a bum
Hanging around with the rest of the riff -raff
down at the pool hall on Main Street
Wearing a red bandana
and a sweaty old straw hat
and Union all -cover, all dirty bare feet
One half stupid and the other half dumb
Born to live and die in a
sharecropper's slum
People said,
that old boy was born to be a bum
Well, who's gonna cry when you die,
Rufus?
Who's gonna miss
you when you're gone?
Will it be the black man
you called a nigger?
The hippie that you beat up
just cause you was bigger?
Will the riff -raff laugh
at the epitaph on your tombstone?
I'll betcha it says, Here lies Rufus,
born to be a bum,
Died like his daddy with a
belly full of rum.
Well, Rufus went walking
one cold dark night,
Drunker than a skunk
and spoiling for a fight
They beat up an old man
named Booker T. Clay
Just because the man was black
and he was standing in the way
That night Rufus died
in the sharecropper's slum
The sheriff never knew
where the shot came from
People said, I told you
that old boy was born to be a boss
Well, they buried poor Rufus
just two days later
And laid him out cold and alone
And Booker T. Clay
was the only man there
He bought the great margarine,
he said a little prayer
Now people passin' by stop and stare
at the strange tombstone
It says, here lies Rufus,
born to be a bum
He died like his daddy,
with a belly full of rye
Yeah, it's gonna cry when you die,
you know
Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah