Many a man down in these here hills Made a living off that old black gold Now there aint nothing but welfare and pills And the wind never felt so cold Ill be one of the first in a long long line Not to go down from that old black lung My death will be slower than the rest of my kind And my life will be sadder than the songs they all sung Old King Coal what are we gonna do When the mountains are gone and so are you They come from the city to lend a hand Carrying signs saying, Shut the mines down We aint looking for pity and you dont understand So go back to your city now cause this aint your town My Great Grandfather spent his days in a coal mine And his nights on the porch in a chair Now hes in heaven and down here in hell The rivers run muddy and the mountains are bare
coal, mountain, city, black, grandfather