Well the sun dropped low on the mountain line
Banjo started ringin’ like a church bell chime
Boot heels thump on the old pine floor
You can hear that rhythm clear to the holler next door
Old man Carter got a mason jar
Says This right here’ll warm your heart
Takes a swig and laughs out loud
Then sends it rollin’ through the crowd
Pass the shine, boys, pass it down the line
From the coal camp road to the ridge top pine
One good pull and you’ll feel just fine
When the banjo rings and we pass the shine
Let it roll from hand to hand tonight
Under them West Virginia stars so bright
Round that jar till the fire burns low
Pass the shine and let it go
Banjo’s rattlin’ like a runaway train
Fiddle cries through the midnight rain
Bass man stomps with a mountain grin
Everybody hollerin, Pour it again
Miners fresh from a long dark day
Coal dust still ain’t washed away
But tonight them worries drift behind
With every sip of that mountain shine
Pass the shine, boys, pass it down the row
Let the good times ride and the banjo go
One good burn and your blood’ll glow
In these West Virginia hills we know
Raise that jar to the mountain sky
Hear the old time music cry
Round that fire where the cold winds blow
Pass the shine and let it go
You’ll see old boots tappin’ in the dirt
Hear that banjo pickin’ through the hurt
Miners laughin, singin’ strong
Lord these hills raised men like that all along
Stories fly with the sparks in air
Moon hangs high like it’s listenin’ there
And every man with a calloused hand
Takes his turn with the mountain brand
For the men we lost down in them mines
We lift that jar and pour a line
Their memory rides in every rhyme
And every pull of that mountain shine
Pass the shine, boys, pass it one more round
Let that banjo shake this mountain town
From the deep coal seams to the high ridge line
Ain’t no cure like Appalachian shine
Laugh real loud while the night’s still young
Sing them songs that our daddies sung
Till the fire burns low and the roosters crow
Pass the shine, and let it go
Pass that jar, don’t hold the line
Boys in these hills, we pass the shine
“Pass The Shine” is track number 4 on the Thumper Barrel album, In A Coal Town.
Track: Pass The Shine
Album: In A Coal Town
ISRC: QZNWY2695562
ASCAP: 935077942