Coalminers

Dm 
Come, all you coalminers 

Wherever you may be 
Dm 
And listen to the story 

That I relate to thee 

My name is nothing extra 
                     Cadd9 
But the truth to you I tell 
Dm 
I am a coalminer 

And I'm sure I wish you well 

Dm 
I was born in old Kentucky 

In a coal camp, born and bred 

I know about old beans 
Dm 
Bulldog gravy and cornbread 

I know how the miners work and slave 
                   Cadd9 
In the coalmines every day 

For a dollar in the company store 
Dm 
For that is all they pay 

Dm 
Mining is the most dangerous work 

In our land today 
Dm 
Plenty of dirty, slaving work 

For very little pay 

Coalminers, won't you wake up 
                       Cadd9 
And open your eyes and see 

What this dirty capitalist system 

Has done to you and me 

Dm 
Dear miners, they will slave you 

Until you can't work no more 

And what will you get for your labor but a dollar in the company store 

A tumbledown shack to live in 
                              Cadd9 
Snow and rain pouring through the top 

 and you have to pay the company rent 
                  Dm 
 and your payments will never stop 

Dm 
They take our very lifeblood 

They take our children's lives 

Take fathers away from children 

Take husbands away from wives coalminers, won't you organize 
               Cadd9 
Wherever you may be 
Dm 
And make this a land of freedom 

For workers, like you and me 

Dm 
I am a coalminer 
        Cadd9 
And I'm sure I wish you well 
Dm 
Let's sink this capitalist system 

To the darkest pits of hell