Harlan County, USA Lyrics

Harlan County, USA
By Cast Iron Filter
rmofle at satx.rr.com
In eastern Kentucky
In nineteen-thirty-eight
The miners tried to live their lives
The Harlan County way
They hadn't seen a single scr*p of coal since '31
They'd gone on strike and wouldn't stop
Until the fightin' was done
They did their best to organize
To please the NMU
And old Aunt Molly Jackson tried
To sing 'em what to do
But the people kept on fightin'
Though there wasn't no food around
Till the companies sent the gun thugs
And drove the strikers outta town
Chorus:
We never thought it'd come to war but we were wise
And we were waitin' for the chance
To get that company out our lives
But it won't be long 'til the bullets fly tonight
They might kill us all but they'll never break the strike
And maybe one day we'll find a way in Harlan County USA
And we'll finally get back to workin' in the mines
Well, the citizens on Harlan
Moved on some thirty years
They gave in to save their families
Cause the money'd disappeared
They'd seen the murder of Jock Yablonski
By that bastard Mr. Boyle
After the Mannington Disaster
They wouldn't work under the soil
Well, neither side would compromise
To save the other's skin
And Duke Power liked to bargain
With the lives of workin' men
So the shots rang out among the hills
When the gun thugs came their way
But the miners won in '75
For better work and better pay