Sun ain’t up on the ridge line yet
But the whistle’s cryin’ low
Boots on gravel, coffee black
Headin’ where the cold winds blow
Down that shaft where the timbers groan
Where the dark don’t give you slack
And right beside me walkin’ slow
Is that kid in the damn red hat
Said, Boy keep tight to the rib of the wall
Watch your roof and mind your light
Coal’ll kill a man real quick
If he don’t treat her right
But he’s draggin’ chain and missin’ signs
Like a mule that won’t stay pat
Lord knows I’ve chewed him out all day
Over that damn red hat
That damn red hat, bright as fire
Stickin’ out in the coal dust black
Means he’s green and don’t know yet
All the ways the mountain’ll crack
But I see myself some forty years
In the lamp light where we’re at
I reckon I once drove the old boys crazy
Wearin’ that damn red hat
He set a jack wrong twice today
Dropped his wrench down in the seam
Nearly tripped the cable line
Chasin’ some half-baked scheme
I barked his name clear down the drift
My temper burnin’ hot and flat
But he just nodded, wiped his brow
Under that damn red hat
Come break time by the shuttle track
Dust hangin’ thick in the air
He asked me how I learned it all
Said, Old man, was you always there
I laughed so hard my ribs near cracked
Said Son, that’s where you’re at
Forty years ago I was the fool
Wearin’ that damn red hat
That damn red hat, bright as fire,
Stickin’ out in the coal dust black
Means he’s green and don’t know yet
All the ways the mountain’ll crack
But I see myself some forty years
In the lamp light where we’re at
Yeah the old men shook their heads at me
In that damn red hat
Coal towns raise us stubborn boys
Hard heads carved from stone
Ain’t no school for learnin’ mines
‘Cept the dark and the groan
And every gray-beard down the line
Once walked the same old track
Tryin’ not to get himself killed
In a brand new red hard hat
That damn red hat, bright as fire
One day he’ll trade it in for black
Standin’ where I’m standin’ now
With a greenhorn at his back
And he’ll cuss and laugh the same as me
Watchin’ some young fool like that
Lord help the boy who’s workin’ next
In that damn red hat
So tomorrow when that whistle blows
And we ride that cage back down
I’ll keep one eye on the roof above
And one on that kid around
‘Cause the mines don’t raise old miners
Without a few like that
And every man down in these hills
Starts in a damn red hat
“That Damn Red Hat” is track number 9 on the Thumper Barrel album, No. 3 Mine.
Track: That Damn Red Hat
Album: No. 3 Mine
ISRC: QZRP52615062
ASCAP: 935192049