A Miner's Life

My aging dad before me and my brothers all in line,
 When I turned 17 I went down in the mines.
 A battery lamp upon my head, steel toes upon my feet,
 And a bucket in my hand with bread and potted tea.
 My lungs are filling every day with dust they call black death,
 You think of it don't say though each time you take a breath,
 You know have to stay down there, there's nothing else to do,
 When you have no life above the ground, what's a miner's son to do
 Chorus:
 When living in West Virginia,
 You only get one go,
 Burrow in beneath the ground
 And dig the old black coal
 You work the job, you eat the dust, you pay back all your debts
 The company store's bill caught up, I guess you done your best
 When the doctor calls he has the news, your tests have all come back
 There's no more underground for you, your lungs have both turned black
 The years passed, the miner died, they laid him in the ground
 His son looked down upon the grave in the churchyard of the town.
 "Dad I know I promised you, those words cannot hold true,
 When the whistle blows at 5 o'clock, what's a miner's son to do?"
 Chorus:
 When living in West Virginia,
 You only get one go,
 Burrow in beneath the ground
 And dig the old black coal