there was an old, blind man
who stood on the corner down town

he was holding a cup
filled up with nothing
from the christmas shopping crowd
and though i barely came up to the top of his cane
i reached up and gave him
every cent to my name

(chorus):

three little pennies
were all that i had
one that i'd found
two from my dad
three little pennies not much of a gift
but Dad said "that's plenty, if it's all you can give"

that evening my dad told a wonderful story to me
about a child and the manger
the wise men who came bearing gifts on the first christmas eve
there was a part i'm sure he made up
about a stable boy who couldn't give much

(chorus)

three little pennies
were all that he had
one that he'd found
two from his dad
three little pennies not much of a gift
but Dad said "that's plenty if it's all you can give"

next morning was christmas
and i had prayed hard for a bike
but all that i found was the tiniest box
with three shiny pennies inside

and i was so disapointed because i had been good
but times had been bad so i understood
and daddy said:

"three little pennies
were all that you had
but you gave them freely
so i gave them back
three little pennies not much of a gift
you'r bike is outside because you've learned how to give"