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My history is no secret, It's written in the stones |
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In the hill beside this river,Rest my mother gentle bones. |
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And daddy there beside her, On my mothers next of kin |
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And their legacy passed down to me, The sons of mountain men. |
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Raised to be a miner, By a miners callised hands |
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Has my youth between these mountains, Where i grew to understand. |
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That family was the word of God, And faith was its demand |
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And life and death is sinking, From the coal beneath this land. |
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Well, a rich man writes the book of laws A poor man must defend |
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But the highest laws are written On the hearts of honest men |
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If that cup is passed to me To do what must be done |
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When they lay me down remind them I was just my father's son. |
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I've walked among these people Heard the stories that they tell |
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I've crawled beside them in the mines And touched the walls of hell. |
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I've shared their sacred secrets Known their triumph and their pain |
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And right or wrong i'll stand with them On the final judgement day. |
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They say God gives his comfort When the time of trouble comes |
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They say we'll own no share of peace Til we lay down our guns. |
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But will my boy have the chance to do The things i've never done |
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Or will he like me be told to be Must be his father's son. |
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Well a rich man writes the book of laws A poor man must defend |
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But the highest laws are written On the hearts of honest men. |
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When that cup is passed to me To do what must be done |
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On chunk of coal just carve these words |
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I was just my father's son... |
