Coal Dust and Grain

(mmm-hmmm) The whistle blows at five but the gates are closed

We stand in the cold in our faded clothes

They cut the shift

to three days a week

While the coal dust settles on my baby's cheek

And the company ledger's got a heavy hand

Taking the life from the working man

(oh, yes they are)

And we dig, we sweat,

we bleed in the dark

For a fading wage

and a dying spark

Now the mines are quiet

and the pay is thin

Oh, how's a man to live

when the walls cave in?

Thirty long years in the belly of the hill

Now they say the machines are standing still

They took our pride

and they cut our pay

Then they packed up the office

and drove away

And the company ledger's got a heavy hand

Taking the life from the working man

(oh, yes they are)

And we dig, we sweat,

we bleed in the dark

For a fading wage

and a dying spark Now the mines are quiet

and the pay is thin

Oh, how's a man to live when the walls cave in?

There's no work in the valley,

no fire in the grate

Just the cold, hard weight

of a working man's fate (lord,

help us now)

Now the black hills

stand cold and bare

And there's nothing left

but the dusty air...

(humm, mmm-mmm)