They Can't Put It Back

They Can't Put It Back

Down in the valley about a mile from me
Where the crows no longer cry
There's a great big earth-moving monster machine
Stands ten stories high
Well the ground he can eat is a sight
Takes a hundred tons at a bite
He can dig up the grass, it's a fact
But he can't put it back
They come and tell me that I got to move
Make way for that big machine
But I ain't moving unless they kill me
'Bout like they killed the fish in my stream
But look at that big machine go
Took that shady grove a long time to grow
He can rip it out with one whack
But he can't put it back
He can't put it back
I never was one to carry signs
Picket with placards, walk in lines
Maybe I'm a little behind the times
You can bet your sweet life
That they're gonna hear from me
I ain't gonna take it lyin' down
'Cause I'm a gittin' tired o' seein' rocks that bleed
On the bare guts of the ground
I ain't gonna sell my soul
So they can strip out another tiny vein of coal
I ain't a-movin' out of my tracks
'Cause they can't put it back
They can't put it back
No, they can't put it back
Can't put it back
No, they can't put it back
They can't put it back
They can't put it back

by Billy Edd Wheeler / Bexhill Music Corp / Quartet Music Inc / ASCAP