Rocky Mountain Mines

Some say there's ghosts in the hills

And they're black as the coal

And voices they scream in the night

From the deep dark below

There was poor Ivy and Scratch

And friends too many to name

Who were caught in a thundering landslide

And there they'll remain

And I cry "Daddy, oh Dad please don't go"

But he won't be coming home no

And mother, dear mom don't you know

I'm feeling so old and alone

'Cause I'm the son next in line

For the black lung dyin'

And just a few come back

From the Rocky Mountain mines

We're much too poor to escape

The weight of the earth

In tunnels and dust and fear

We will measure our worth

Here's our bones for the soil

Our blood for the land

Our souls for sweet Jesus

Our bodies be damned

And I cry

Well sometimes I wonder

Where my Daddy's gone

But I know he's gone to the wilderness

And he ain't comin' home

Then sometimes I get to wondering

When it'll be my turn to lie down

In that cold dark place, Lord

Down under the ground

It's said the mark of Cain

Is on the miners head

And it don't wash with lye soap

'Til he's good and he's dead

I saw my Daddy wave

From the top of the hill

He said "Come along, son"

I say "Soon I will"