I got whiskey on my back,
and a sheriff's on my track
I'm gonna make it through this world if I can

I take a walk to go my bail,
brother took off to the county jail
You better make it through the world if you can

If you can
If you can
You better make it through the world if you can

If you want to have to leave home,
you just stick with a bottle of corn
You got to make it through the world if you can

You may think they're doin' you wrong,
but they'll send you to the county farm1
You better make it through the world if you can

If you can
If you can
You better make it through the world if you can

When you go out for a load,
the sheriff will stop you on the road
You have to make it through this world if you can

It's a real surprising thing,
that to hear those boys will drink
You better make it through the world if you can

If you can
If you can
You better make it through the world if you can

...they sure got to hear about liquor

Ever since this state went dry2,
the bootleggers have their shine3
They gonna keep out of the way of the jail if they can

If they can
If they can
They gonna keep out of the way of the jail if they can

__________
Note 1: county farm, a prison farm where convicts had to work of their time. Probably the most famous/notorious among these prison farms was Parchman Farm. The state prison in Parchman, Mississippi. Parchman was a complex of 15 labor camps covering a large area in Mississippi, a closed society of black men who were offered as "contract" labor to farms, railroads and industries of many sorts, passed around to do labor for the financial benefit of both the contractor and the state who sold them.;
Note 2: Ever since this state went dry, with the Prohibition Act sales and use of liquor was forbidden by law and under penalty;
Note 4: shine, short for moonshine, a home made whiskey made from corn