Took my family away from my Carolina home
Had dreams about the west and started to roam
Six long months on a dust covered trail
They say heaven's at the end, but so far it's been hell

And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there

We were digging and sifting from five to five
Selling everything we found just to stay alive
Gold flowed free like the whiskey in the bars
Sinning was the big thing, Lord and Satan was the star

And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there

Dance hall girls were the evening treat
Empty cartridges and blood lined the gutters of the street
Men were shot down for the sake of fun
Or just to hear the noise of their forty-four guns

And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there

Now my widow, she weeps by my grave
Tears flow free for her man she couldn't save
Shot down in cold blood by a gun that carried fame
All for a useless and no good worthless claim

And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there

Fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
Waiting for me there