You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Extended)

In the deep, dark hills of eastern Kentucky

That's the place where I trace my bloodline

And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone

"You'll never leave Harlan alive"

Well, my granddad's dad walked down Katahrin's Mountain

And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride

He said, "Won't you walk with me out of the mouth of this holler

Or we'll never leave Harlan alive"

Where the sun comes up about 10 in the morning

And the sun goes down about 3 in the day

And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking

And you spend your life just thinking how to get away

No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains

'Til a man from the northeast arrived

Waving hundred dollar bills, he said, "I'll pay you for your minerals"

But he never left Harlan alive

Well, Granny, she sold out cheap and they moved out west of Pineville

To a farm where Big Richland River winds

And they danced them a jig and laughed and sang a new song

"Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive?"

But the times, they got hard and tobacco wasn't selling

And old Granddad knew what he'd do to survive

He went and dug for Harlan coal, sent the money back to Granny

But he never left Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about 10 in the morning

And the sun goes down about 3 in the day

And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking

And you spend your life just thinking how to get away

Where the sun comes up about 10 in the morning

And the sun goes down about 3 in the day

And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking

And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave