Although I'm but a working man,
I live by honest labor.
I always do the best I can
To assist a needy neighbor.
Content and health are all my wealth,
With honesty to back it,
My motives pure, although I'm poor,
I respect the ragged jacket.

Let people say whatever they may
Of broadcloth and who wore it,
It's not the coat that makes the man,
But the deeds through life that bear it!
So always help a fellowman
If assistance, he should lack it,
Do him all the good you can
Though he wears a ragged jacket!

All were equally born at first
Of this, and every nation,
The rich among the poor would be
But for health and education,
And when we're laid beneath the sod,
With a hundred years to back it,
Who can tell which were the bones
That wore the Ragged Jacket!