[Verse 1] In the deep dark hills of Eastern Kentucky Thats the place where I traced my bloodline And its there I read on a hillside gravestone Youll never leave Harlan alive [Verse 2] Oh my granddads dad crossed the Cumberland Mountains Where he took a pretty girl to be his bride Said, Wont you walk with me out of the mouth of this holler Or well never leave Harlan alive [Chorus] Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning The sun goes down about three in the day And youll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew youre drinking And you spend your life just thinking of how to get away [Verse 3] No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains Til a man from the northeast arrived Well he was waving hundred dollar bills and said, Ill pay you for your minerals But he never left Harlan alive [Verse 4] Grandma sold out cheap and they moved out west of Pikeville To a farm where big Richland River winds Oh I bet they danced them a jig and they laughed and sang a new song Who said wed never leave Harlan alive [Verse 5] But the times got hard and tobacco wasnt selling And old granddad knew what hed do to survive So he went and dug for Harlan coal, sent the money back to Granny But he never left Harlan alive [Chorus] Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning The sun goes down about three in the day And youll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew youre drinking And you spend your life just thinking of how to get away [Chorus] The sun comes up about ten in the morning The sun goes down about three in the day And youll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew youre drinking And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave
harlan, alive, brew, sun, coal