Longwall Mine Blues (guitar version)

I'll dedicate this one to the folks out in West Virginia. Yeah, I know I already posted this, but the other versions were on mando, and I thought I should do a guitar version, for a couple of reasons. For one, a friend needed a better copy of the song for a seminar, and secondly, I figured the tragedy in West Virginia made the song a bit more timely. My sympathies go out to the families in West Virginia. How horrible it must be. And while it may take awhile to figure out the cause, I'm willing to bet the age-old problem of profits-over-safety was a factor in there somewhere.

Here are the lyrics, and as always, the song is copyright 2010 by David Hanners

LONGWALL MINE BLUES

When you step into the mine, youre one step closer to your death
Say one last prayer with your last clean breath
That cage lowers down, good men confess their sins
'Cause God himself couldn't dig you out if the back comes caving in

Maybe if I just went to sleep, thered be no more pain
Id float like a hawk bove these hills and hollers
And never go home again

In the spring these hills once blossomed, smells of sycamore and pine
And the hollers stayed cool come the heat of summertime
Now, its all rusted, like rail cars on old tracks
Streams run red from acid runoff; the jobs ain't coming back

(chorus)

'Tween falls and gas and bug dust, your timell come, but when?
Seams of coal we cut just line the pockets of wealthy men

Down in this longwall mine, it's dark as death itself
You might make it out alive but its gonna rob your health
I've heard people near dyin' float through a tunnel to a light
The deeper down this shaft you fall just takes you closer to the night

(chorus and end)

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