Blue Diamond Mines

I remember the ways in the bygone days
When we were in our prime
How us and John L. give the old man hell
Down in the Blue Diamond Mine
Well the whistle blowed and the rooster crowed
Two hours before daylight
When a man done his best and he earned his good rest
Made seventeen dollars a night
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh fall on your knees and pray
You old black gold, you’ve taken my lungs
And your dust has darkened my home
And now that we’re old, you’re turning your back
Where else can an old miner go?
Well it’s Algomer Block and it’s Big Leather Woods
And now it’s Blue Diamond too
Well the pits are all closed and it’s get another job
What else can an old miner do
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh fall on your knees and pray
John L. had a dream but it’s broken it seems
Mining has had it’s day
But they’re stripping off my mountain top
And they pay me eight dollars a day
And I get a little poke of welfare meal
A little poke of welfare flour
But I tell ya right now you won’t qualify
'Til you work for a quarter an hour
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
I worked my life away
In the mines, in the mines
In the Blue Diamond Mines
Oh fall on your knees and pray