You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

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 will never leave Harlan alive'
 When my granddad's dad walked down Catron'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 ten in the morning
 And the sun goes down about three in the day
 And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin'
 And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away
 Well 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
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 Well granny, she sold out cheap, and they moved out west of Pineville
 To a farm where big Rich Man River was
 And I bet they danced them a jig and laughed and sang a new song
 Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive?
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 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 ten in the morning
 And the sun goes down about three in the day
 And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin'
 And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away
 And the sun comes up about ten in the morning
 And the sun goes down about three 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
 ♪
 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'