In a model T they came settled in the valley
Spent thirty years down in this blackened hell
And all my daddy got for all those years of trying
Was a coal dust covered grave upon the hill

As a child I still remember, those same old tipples hummin'
Those mighty diesel trains would come and go
As a little barefoot boy by the coal yards I would wonder
Man where could they be takin' all that coal

Was my bride at 17 she long since gave up her dreams
Yes she knows I'll live and die here digging coal
Well she's a coal miner's daughter so it's not the life she wanted
Like me it's the only one she knows