I remember the ways in the bygone days
Ehen we were in our prime
How us and John L. give the old man hell
Down in the Blue Diamond Mine

Well, the whistle blows and the rooster crows
Two hours before daylight
When a man's done his best and he earned his good rest
At seventeen dollars a night

In the mines, in the mines
in the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh, fall on your knees and pray

Old black gold, you've taken my lungs
And your dust has darkened my home
And now that we're old, you're turnin'g your back
where else can an old miner go?

Well, it's Algomer Block and it's Big Leather Woods
Now its Blue Diamond too
Well, the pits are all closed and it's,"get another job"
What else can an old miner do?

In the mines, in the mines
in the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh, fall on your knees and pray

John L. had a dream
But it's broken, it seems
Mining has had its day
But they're stripping off my mountain top
And they pay me eight dollars a day

I get a little poke of welfare meal
A little poke of welfare flour
But I tell you right now you won't qualify
'Tll you work for a quarter an hour

In the mines, in the mines
in the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh, fall on your knees and pray