Down in the Mine

Here in Harlan County, the choices are few To keep food on the table and the babies in shoes You can grow marijuana way back in the pines Or work for the man down in the mine You never forget your first day in the hole There's a pit in your stomach and your mouth's full of coal There's no turning back once you make up your mind As the cart rattles on down in the mine [Chorus] Way down in the mine, your tears turn to mud And you can't catch your breath for the dust in your lungs Loading hillbilly gold where the sun never shines Twelve hours a day, diggin' your grave Way down in the mine Well the old timers talk but you just don't believe It can all go to hell at two thousand feet Life sways in the balance of nature and time And fate has no mercy down in the mine The news spreads like fire and burned through those hills Hopes were held high but five men got killed On the wings of canaries, your soul surely flies While your bones spend eternity down in the mine [Chorus] So take a flask from your crib can and a pull of moonshine And say a prayer for them boys down in the mine