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  1. Coal Dust

From the recording Mystic Twangers

Lyrics

Coal Dust
Copyright Andy G. Twanger

My father came from Marrowbone Kentucky
Our coal camp house sat near the old train line.
Dad worked all night inside those hollowed mountains
Till 25 when they closed Pike Holler mine

Times got hard, so we moved to Harlan County
Dad found a job that paid him overtime
When we looked back, oh boy did we feel lucky
The Harlan wage it paid an extra dime

Dad made his pay in those Allegheny mines
Under those flat top mountain and big old southern pines
600 men with faces painted black
They keep those iron horses rolling down the track …don’t look back

Mom raised us kids the best that she was able
Worked part time jobs to help dad make end meet
My sis and me and now one more in the cradle
Didn’t have that much but had just enough to eat

Dad moved us east to Twin Branch West Virginia
Old mountain town set on the borderline
That black coal sky became so damn familiar
Till 39 when hard coal went into decline

Dad made his pay in those Allegheny mines
Under those flat top mountain and big old southern pines
600 men with faces painted black
They keep those iron horses rolling down the track …don’t look back

Dad heard the men say change was on the way
We’d get more pay if walked the picket lines
The Eastern War made coal worth every penny
By 41 the great unions ruled the mines

So I left home to join the holy hell
Gave up my shovel for a riffle and a knife
Mom wrote and said,” Dads not doing all that well”
And that black coal dust might end your daddy life

Dad made his pay in those Allegheny mines
Under those flat top mountain and big old southern pines
600 men with faces painted black
They keep those iron horses rolling down the track …don’t look back