Gaelic Mishap

Lyrics

Let me tell ya’ a story bout’ Appalachia Coal
Where the mine gets your lungs, and the man gets your soul
The money ain’t worth all the years they stole
This West Virginia livin’ gonna take its toll

See them black-diamond barons holdin’ all the cards
Sent The Felts and Baldwins down to the yard
Robbin’ us blind, when times were already hard
You know, “tons-to-scrip”, don’t go that far

Now Hatfield and Chambers went to fight for the mines
Pleading with the county, thinkin’ justice is blind
But Hatfield and Chambers are riddled with lead
You start on trial, and ya end up dead

Now, Texas, she got oil, and California's got her gold
But there ain't nothing on this earth worth, Blair Mountain coal

Oh, strikebreaker, straw boss, what do you do
When the deal breaks down, and the talkin’s through
When Bill Blizzard’s Boys are a’comin for you
And The redneck army has more than a few

Blue Steel Special steamin’ down the track
Whistle, click-clack, and there’s no turnin’ back
Yellow-Dog contracts stoking the stack
Ten thousand coal miners on the attack

Now, Texas, she got oil, and California's got her gold
But there ain't nothing on this earth worth, Blair Mountain coal.

Wrote to the president, the president lied
Thought he’d choose the miners, but he chose the coal side
Five days of fighting, a hundred died
It’s a damn dirty business trading rights for lives
Back where we started, trading rights for lives

Now, Texas, she got oil, and California's got her gold
But there ain't nothing on this earth worth, Blair Mountain coal