Coalminers Lyrics - March 16-20, 1992 - Uncle Tupelo

Come, all you coalminers 

Wherever you may be 

And listen to the story 

That I relate to thee 

My name is nothing extra 

But the truth to you I tell 

I am a coalminer 

And I'm sure, wish you well 

I was born in old Kentucky 

In a coal camp, born and bred 

I know about old beans 

Bulldog gravy and cornbread 

I know how the miners work and slave 

In the coalmines every day 

For a dollar in the company store 

For that is all they pay 

Mining is the most dangerous work 

In our land today 

Plenty of dirty, slaving work 

Very little pay 

Coalminers, won't you wake up 

And open your eyes and see 

What this dirty capitalist system 

Has done, you and me 

Dear miners, they will slave you 

'Til you can't work no more 

And what will you get for your labor 

But a dollar in the company store 

A tumbledown shack to live in 

Snow and rain pouring through the top 

You have to pay the company rent 

Your payments never stop 

They take our very lifeblood 

They take our children's lives 

Take fathers away from children 

Take husbands away from wives 

Coalminers, won't you organize 

Wherever you may be 

And make this a land of freedom 

For workers, like you and me 

I am a coalminer 

And I'm sure, I wish you well 

Let's sink this capitalist system 

To the darkest pits of hell