We get up in the black, down the coal town road;
And we hike along the track where the coal trains load
And we make the ponies pull 'til they nearly break their backs,
And they'll never see again down the coal town road.
We hear the whistle call, down the coal town road.
And we take our towels and all where the coal trains load.
In the cages then we drop 'til there's nowhere else to fall
And we leave the world behind down the coal town road.
We never see the sun, down the coal town road.
At a penny for the ton, where the coal trains load.
When the shift comes up on top we're so thankful to be done
We head home to sleep and dream about the coal town road.
There's miners' little sons down the coal town road.
Playing with their cowboy guns where the coal trains load.
But they'd better make the best of their childhood while it runs
There's a pick and shovel waitin' down the coal town road.
If there's a God for us, down the coal town road.
All the miners He can bless where the coal trains load.
For we're sweatin' in the hole suckin' down that Devil's dust
Just to keep the fires a-blazin' down the coal town road.
We get up in the black, down the coal town road;
And we hike along the track where the coal trains load
And we make the ponies pull 'til they nearly break their backs,
And they'll never see again down the coal town road.
And we make the ponies pull 'til they nearly break their backs,
And they'll never see again down the coal town road.