Deeper down I dive
Into the smoke
I trade my life
And break my back
Just to mine some coal
Try to keep my head down
And do as they please
But A Baldwin Felts
With a gun on his belt
Got his eyes on me
It gets hotter and hotter the deeper we go
We all go down but few come up
To see one day more
And the Company man will tell you other wise
But ask any man
With a pick in his hand
The devils in those mines
Oh and those mines they'll eat men alive
They're hungry for souls
Black lungs for black gold
Can't get out I've tried
Gun a man down on the courthouse steps
You can't get away
A mule killed and you're fired
A man who's killed is replaced
It gets hotter and hotter the deeper we go
We all go down but few come up
To see one day more
And the Company man will tell you other wise
But ask any man
With a pick in his hand
The devils in those mines
One million rounds 10,000 men
Climbing up on mountain guns are raised and 100 dead
Now they taking us down in cuffs and chains
But a life in the penn is better than a cold cold grave
Gets hotter and hotter the deeper we go
We all go down but few come up
To see one day more
And the Company man will tell you other wise
But ask any man
With a pick in his hand
The devils in those mines