I left for work at 4 am
Loaded trip headed down below
Aim to spend the next 12 hours a day
For that west virginia coal
New hats red and old hats black
Each man knows he might not come back
Its a way of life that few understand
The pride of having coal miners hands
Between the EPA and Yes We Can
Its gettin harder everyday
Just to keep our land
Fight tooth and nail
Just to earn our pay
In the pitch black dark
No light of day
Got daddy's boots and pap-aws lamp
To guide me through the methane damp
Every thing that I am
Came by coal miners hands
Coal miners hands
I got 15 years in mining coal
Under my hat and in my soul
In the belly of the beast
They call the mines
I work my shift and do my time
So the lights come on
And the kids get fed
Lungs turn black
But my neck's still red
Lord I know you have a plan
For my coal miners hands
Coal miners hands
Lost a real good friend in '93
To a beltfire off 119
Now and then I feel the ghosts
Of those boys that just lost in Montcoal,
Aracoma, Sago, and many more
There's scores of men who've gone before
I have lived and I will die
By with coal miners hands
Coal miners hands
Coal miners hands
Coal miners hands
Coal miners hands