Sun creeps slow on a Cumberland ridge
Whistle cuts through the mornin’ pine
Boots on gravel, lamp on my belt
Just like Daddy did in his time
Granddad swung that pick and steel
Back when mules ran the black coal track
Now it’s diesel smoke and cutter heads
But the dust still coats us black
We come from a long line, diggin’ that coal
Hands like leather, lungs full of soul
Company names keep changin’ their sign
But the men underground stay the same down the line
From my granddad’s day to this life of mine
Down in the dark we all intertwine
Yeah this town was built by
A long, long line
Old man Harper worked Number Three
Union badge in his coat pocket seam
Daddy hauled rock in the section crew
Workin’ second shift on the seam
Now my boy’s talkin’ ’bout signin’ on
Soon as he turns eighteen
Says A man’s gotta earn his keep
Down where the lamps show the coal’s sheen
We come from a long line, diggin’ that coal
Hands like leather, hearts tough as stone
Peabody, Consol, whoever they sign
The name on the gate’s just a mark on a line
But the men in the dark keep the mountain alive
Swingin’ and sweatin’ shift after shift in time
Yeah this town was built by
A long, long line
Seen three company signs on that gate
Since the year I first stepped inside
But the same old lunch pails hit that bench
And the same old trucks still ride
Same church bell on a Sunday morn
Same bar on a Friday night
Same hard men with coal black hands
Walkin’ home in the miner’s light
You can change the boss and the payroll sheet
Paint a new name on the mine
But the blood in these hills runs black as the seam
From a long Appalachian line
Yeah we’re a long line, diggin’ that coal
Backs bent heavy but proud in the soul
Generations carved in the mountain side
Where the dust and the sweat and the family collide
And when my time’s done and my shift bell chimes
Another young hand’ll be standin’ in line
Keepin’ alive
That long, long line
When the whistle cries at the break of dawn
And the cage drops down the spine
You’ll find half this town
From the very same long line
“A Long Line” is track number 7 on the Thumper Barrel album, No. 3 Mine.
Track: A Long Line
Album: No. 3 Mine
ISRC: QZRP52615060
ASCAP: 935192042