Fire in the Hole

Now the last ten years I’ve worked in the mines
Counting the hours of the day
‘Til I could wash off the dust from my bones
And spend what’s left of my pay
Oh I wish I was back in the company store
With a local girl on my arm
Where a pint and a kiss and a fiddler’s reel
Could keep me safe and warm
It’s fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole
Well I’m fumblin' now for words to say
What’s caught behind my tongue
‘Cus I’m shaky now 'bout all the things
I knew when I was young
Just dreamin' tonight that I’m wide awake
A thousand feet under the ground
And a thousand souls under all that weight
Of heaven pressing us down
It’s fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole
Now a nation will rise from the work we do
Making millionaires night and day
So I’ll sign us up with the union man
To get us the rest of our pay
Now we’ll strike every day if it comes to that
I coughed every night for a year and a half
We’ll meet them at the gates with bullets and some mates
And a few men won’t come back
It’s fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole