The Onyx Mine

Miners came from Tennessee back in 1891
The west was still young and free like the early mornin' sun
Diggin' into the mountainside lookin' for a streak of gold
In the marrow of the onyx mine lies the story that they told
Now a hundred years gone by you still can see their sign
Way out on the Boulder Road that leads down to the old mine
I came for the first time when I was just sixteen
Now twenty years have passed and I’m still just a refugee
'Cause I feel somethin' when I ride that rocky trail
I hear voices in the tall dark pines
And I don’t feel nothin' when I drive these city streets
So I think I’ll leave this city behind
And head for the onyx mine
Father told the story about drivin' that old road
In a 1941 Ford the day after it snowed
A downed-log through the fender and a busted-out headlamp
By the early mornin' light they made it to the old mine camp
When my world turns dark and cold and the gold in life don’t shine
I gather up my family and we head up to the old mine
We sit around a campfire and look up at the full white moon
And listen to the coyote howl an old ghost miner’s tune
'Cause I feel somethin' when I ride that rocky trail
I hear voices in the tall dark pines
And I don’t feel nothin' when I drive these city streets
So I think I’ll leave this city behind
And head for the onyx mine