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(Darrel Scott) |
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In the deep dark hills of eastern |
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Kentucky That's the place where |
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I traced my bloodline |
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And it's there |
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I read on a hillside gravestone "You'll never leave Harlan alive" |
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Oh my grandfather's dad crossed the |
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Cumberland |
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Mountains |
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Where he took a pretty girl to be his bride |
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Said "Won't you walk with me out of the mouth of this holler Or we'll never leave Harlan alive" |
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Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin' |
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And the sun goes down about three in the day |
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And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin' |
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And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away |
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No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains |
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Till a man from the northeast arrived |
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Waving hundred dollar bills |
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Said "I'll pay you for your minerals" |
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But he never left |
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Harlan alive |
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Grandma sold out cheap and they moved out west of |
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Pineville |
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To a farm where |
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Big Richland |
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River winds |
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And I bet they danced them a jig |
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And they laughed and sang a new song "Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive" |
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But the times, they got hard and tobacco wasn't selling |
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And old grandad knew what he'd do to survive |
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He went and dug for |
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Harlan coal |
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And sent the money back to grandma |
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But he never left |
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Harlan alive |
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Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin' |
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And the sun goes down about three in the day |
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And you'll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin' |
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And you spend your life diggin' coal from the bottom of your grave |
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You'll never leave |
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Harlan alive |
