From the recording Let Me Fly
Written by Merle in the 1940's and later made famous by Johnny Cash, this song tells of the dangers and hardships of life in the mines. For those of us who are not coal miners, it might serve as a reminder to count our blessings.
Lyrics
Come all you young fellows so young and so fine
And seek not your fortune way down in the mine
It will form like a habit and seep in your soul
Till the stream of your blood flows as black as the coal
It's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew
The danger is doubled and the pleasures are few
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mine
There's many a man I have seen in my day
Who lived just to labor his whole life away
Like the fiend with his dope and the drunkard his wine
A man can have lust for the lure of the mine
[chorus]
Oh when I am dead and the ages shall roll
My body will blacken and turn into coal
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home
And pity the miner a-digging my bones
[chorus]