Kentucky Mine

His eyes are greener than the meadows

His hair is greyer than a ghost

His lungs are blacker than the shadows

That dance in circles down below

You see them every Monday morning

Electric halos light their way

Five days of widows mourning

But Friday rolls the stone away

Kentucky mine, doing time

Never see the light of day

Kentucky mine, stand in line

Just to dig your own grave

From coal dust they make a living

To coal dust they will return

The earth is good but unforgiving

And someone's got to keep the fire burnin'

Daddy says, "Listen to me,

Do not follow where my footsteps lead"

Kentucky mine, doing time

Never see the light of day

Kentucky mine, stand in line

Just to dig your own grave

And everything he said was true

But what's a Kentucky boy like me to do?

Kentucky mine, doing time

Never see the light of day

Kentucky mine, stand in line

Just to dig your own grave