Dave Alvin - You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive Lyrics
In the deep dark hills of Eastern KentuckyThat's the place where I trace my bloodlineAnd it's there I read on a hillside gravestoneYou will never leave Harlan aliveWell, my granddad's dad crossed the Cumberland MountainsAnd he asked Tillie Helton to be his brideHe said won't you walk with me out of this mouth of this hollerOr we'll never leave Harlan aliveWhere the sun comes up about ten in the morningAnd the sun goes down about three in the dayAnd you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkingAnd you spend your life just thinking how to get awayNo one ever knew there was coal in these mountainsTill a man from the Northeast arrivedWaving hundred dollar bills and saying I'll pay y'all for your mineralsBut he never left Harlan aliveGranny sold out cheap and they moved out west to PinevilleTo a farm where the big Richland river windsAnd I bet they danced them a jig and they laughed and sang a new songWho said we'd never leave Harlan alive?But the times, they got hard and tobacco wasn't sellingAnd old granddad knew what he had to do to surviveHe went and dug for Harlan coal and sent the money back to grannyBut he never left Harlan aliveWhere the sun comes up about ten in the morningAnd the sun goes down about three in the dayAnd you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkingAnd you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your graveWhere the sun comes up about ten in the morningAnd the sun goes down about three in the dayAnd you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkingAnd you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your graveIn the deep dark hills of Eastern KentuckyThat's the place where I trace my bloodlineAnd it's there I read on a hillside gravestoneYou will never leave Harlan alive
