Here come the mine cars, it's damn near dawn. 

Another shift of men, some of them my friends, comin' on. 

Hard to imagine workin' in the mines, 

Coal dust in your lungs, on your skin and on your mind 

I've listened to the speeches 

but it occurs to me politicians just don't understand 

the thoughts of isolation, ain't no sunshine underground 

It's like workin' in a graveyard three miles down. 



Damn near a legend as old as the mines, 

things that happen in the pits just don't change with the times. 

Work till you're exhausted in too little space. 

A history of disastrous fears etched on your face 

Somebody signs a paper, everybody thinks is fine 

but Taft and Hartley ain't done one day in the mines. 

You start to stiffen! You heard a crackin' sound! 

It's like workin' in a graveyard three miles down.