Old King Coal

I was born here in these foothills

Of this old Kentucky town

Where the green trees touch the grey sky

Above a deep dark ground

Where the coal beats like a heart in this land

It's been a grave to so many of my friends

Like my daddy I followed

My granddad to those mines

It was the summer of my 19th year

When I saw my last days' light

It's been years since I tasted my first earth

I've forgotten what those early years were for

And I sing this song for Old King Coal

And the only way of living that I've known

For the years that were stripped from my life

I'm praying for the strength to say goodbye

To Old King Coal

I've grown thick skin

To all the young men

Coughing up the dust from their lungs

It feels like hard times

Ain't that hard to find

When you're selling out your life by the ton

Through the years I've weighed losses and gains

Sometimes it feels this whole world is caving in

And I sing this song for Old King Coal

And the only way of living that I've known

For the years that were stripped from my life

I'm praying for the strength to say goodbye

To Old King Coal