His eyes are greener than the meadows
His hair is greyer than a ghost
His lungs are blacker than the shadows
That dance in circles down below

You see them every Monday morning
Electric halos light their way
Five days of widows mourning
But Friday rolls the stone away

Chorus

Kentucky mine, doing time
Never see the light of day
Kentucky mine, stand in line
Just to dig your own grave

From coal dust they make a living
To coal dust they will return
The earth is good but unforgiving
And someone's got to keep the fire burnin'
Daddy says, "Listen to me,
Do not follow where my footsteps lead"

Chorus

And everything he said was true
But what's a Kentucky boy like me to do?

Chorus