There's a little white note on a gate by the road that a man put up yesterday
And when we saw it we all ran out just to see what it had to say
And when we read it our eyes filled with tears and we fell to the cold hard clay
Something 'bout a mortgage somethin' 'bout foreclosure somethin' 'bout failing to pay

Oh my mama's tears fell freely down as she walked amongst the flowers in the yard
And every number the auctioneer called was like a blow to her precious heart
And every number the auctioneer called meant another thing was sold that day
While everything was auctioned we stood there watching while they loaded it and drove it away

At the day's first dawning we awoke this morning there was nothing for us to do
Nothing in the granary no hay in the meadow no cattle no tractor no tools
So we loaded up the car took the clothes we wore and a few things we managed to save
Mama read from the book we took one last look and then we drove away