"Hands of a Working Man" is the title of a song written by D. Vincent Williams and Jim Collins

Jim Collins (singer)

Jim Collins is an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1985 and 1998, Collins released three studio albums. He also charted seven singles on Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...

, and recorded by American country music artist Ty Herndon

Ty Herndon

Boyd Tyrone "Ty" Herndon is an American country music and Christian singer. Signed to Epic Records in 1995, Herndon made his debut that year with the Number One single "What Mattered Most", followed by the release of his first album, also entitled What Mattered Most...

. It was released in January 1999 as the third single from his album, Big Hopes

Big Hopes

Big Hopes is the third studio album recorded by country music artist Ty Herndon. It features the singles "A Man Holding On ", "It Must Be Love", and "Hands of a Working Man". These songs peaked at #5, #1, and #5, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

. The song reached #5 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart in May 1999.

Content

The lyric paints a vivid picture of a working man who punches a time clock to pay for braces and other family necessities. He may get tired and frustrated, but he never loses sight of his priorities.

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably saying that the Herndon "offers a solid song and a strong performance that should be widely embraced by country programmers and the working-class listeners who live this lyric."

Chart performance

Chart (1999)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Country 100	47
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	18