Coal Mining Man

Spent my whole life working in the mines Twenty-seven years 'neath the Hemlock Pines In Ol' Kentucky I was only eighteen when I took the job Just like my daddy and my grand-daddy did Before for me With dirty faces and calloused hands (ooh, ooh, ooh) We worked these tunnels till we could barely stand (ooh, ooh, ooh) Now they're closing up the mines (ooh, ooh, ooh) Shutting down the plants (ooh, ooh, ooh) There's no place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh, ooh) There's no place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh, ooh) When the jobs left town thought I'd do the same But all I've ever known has been this place And I can't seem to go Toughest part is looking in Rose's eyes And telling her it'll be alright When I just don't know With dirty faces and calloused hands (ooh, ooh, ooh) We worked these tunnels till we could barely stand (ooh, ooh, ooh) Now they're closing up the mines (ooh, ooh, ooh) Shutting down the plants (ooh, ooh, ooh) There's no place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh, ooh) No place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh, ooh) I can feel myself begin to disappear My whole way of life is gone Forgotten like a relic of yesteryear I don't know how to keep moving on Well, there's boarded up windows down on main street There's men on the corner like scattered leaves There's an air that weighs a ton There's a sadness in my mama's eyes And every time I cough I hear her cry "Oh Lord, don't take my son" With dirty faces and calloused hands (ooh, ooh, ooh) We worked these tunnels till we could barely stand (ooh, ooh, ooh) Now they're closing up the mines (ooh, ooh, ooh) Shutting down the plants (ooh, ooh, ooh) There's no place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh, ooh) There's no place left for a coal mining man (ooh, ooh)