My history is no secret, It's written in the stones
In the hill beside this river, Rest my mother gentle bones.
And daddy there beside her, On my mothers next of kin
And their legacy passed down to me, The sons of mountain men.
Raised to be a miner, By a miners callised hands
Has my youth between these mountains, Where i grew to understand.
That family was the word of God, And faith was its demand
And life and death is sinking, From the coal beneath this land.
Well, a rich man writes the book of laws A poor man must defend
But the highest laws are written On the hearts of honest men
If that cup is passed to me To do what must be done
When they lay me down remind them I was just my father's son.
I've walked among these people Heard the stories that they tell
I've crawled beside them in the mines And touched the walls of hell.
I've shared their sacred secrets Known their triumph and their pain
And right or wrong i'll stand with them On the final judgement day.
They say God gives his comfort When the time of trouble comes
They say we'll own no share of peace Til we lay down our guns.
But will my boy have the chance to do The things i've never done
Or will he like me be told to be Must be his father's son.
Well a rich man writes the book of laws A poor man must defend
But the highest laws are written On the hearts of honest men.
When that cup is passed to me To do what must be done O
N chunk of coal just carve these words I was just my father's son...