Beat on the Mountain

I’ve been working in this mine since 1984
Just like my daddy did and his dad did before
Stand in line and ride that train down where I can’t see
Trying to break down that wall of coal in front of me
The preacher tried to teach me what was wrong and right
But I learned all my lessons with carbide light
Down where air is precious where losers lose it all
Where to stand and be a man you have to learn to crawl
I beat on the mountain with a hammer keeping time
Way down in the dungeon where the sun don’t shine
Down in the heart of the darkness you can hear
my hammer ring
I beat on the mountain but the mountain don’t say a thing
Back in ’37 the strikers shut ‘em down
The bosses brought the hard men in to run us out of town
Nowadays the union rep still don’t know my name
The days of scrip are over but the dust rolls just the same
How I love this mountain that my father’s buried on
Every day I dig the coal he built his life upon
Some folks say that our way of life is out of time
But as for now I’m caught between the mountain
and the mine