There ain’t a job in these mountains you don’t pay for for years

But it’s good to feel useful anyway



I heard down South’s a fountain they’ll throw pennies in for years

Till the coal comes to rest under the weight



It’s with those kinds of things I can relate



The other night I was dreamin’, had a shovel in my hand

And my Grandfather’s land between my toes



Well he asked me to plug up all the holes in our hills

But they sure pay the bills, Heaven knows



There’s a flood in Glen Canyon, but they say it’s a gas

Noah’s flood in a flash, sins washed away



But the folks ain’t abandoned, they’re still sunnin’ by the lake

A pretty gash in the wake of the fray



We can change God’s creation in a day



There’s a sign on my head where the miner’s lamp been

That says coal’s all that’s in this boy’s cards



And I can’t help but wonder when I think of the grin

That my Grandfather pinned between his scars



He said up here’s just closer to the stars



Lord, wash away this black day, wash away

From the peaks to the hollers and graves

Bring down a horse be it red, white, or gray

But just hold that black nag for a day



Bring down a horse be it red, white, or gray

But just hold that black nag for a day