Now God made coal for the men who sold their lives to West Van Lear
And you keep on diggin' 'til you get down there where it's darker than your darkest fears
And that woman in the kitchen she keeps on cookin' but she ain't had meat in years
Just live off bread, live off hope in a pool of a million tears

Now let me tell you somethin' 'bout the gospel
And make sure that you mark it down
When God spoke out, "Let there be light"
He put the first of us in the ground
And we'll keep on diggin' 'til the comin' of the Lord
And Gabriel's trumpet sounds
'Cause if you ain't minin' for the company, boy
There ain't much in this town

We could've made somethin' of ourselves out there if we'd listened to the folks that knew
That coal is gonna bury you

Now it's darker than a dungeon
And it's deeper than a well
So sometimes I imagine
That I'm gettin' pretty close to hell
And in my darkest hour
I cry out to the Lord
He says, "Keep on minin', boy
'Cause that's why you were born"

But we could've made somethin' of ourselves out there if we'd listened to the folks that knew
That coal is gonna bury you