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You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

from Song of the Week III by Drew G. Smith

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lyrics

In the deep, dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
"You'll never leave Harlan alive"

Well my grandad's dad walked down Katahrin's Mountain
And he asked Tillie Hilton to be his bride
Sayin' "walk with me out of the mouth of this holler
Or we'll never leave Harlan alive"

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinking how to get away

Nobody knew there was coal in them mountains
Till a man from the northeast arrived
Waving hundred dollar bills, he said "I'll pay you for your minerals"
But he never left Harlan alive

Granny sold out cheap and we moved out west to Pineville
To a farm where Big Richland River winds
Bet they danced them a jig, and they laughed and sang a new song
"Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive?"

But the times, they got hard and tobacco wasn't selling
And old Granddad knew what to do to survive
Digging Harlan coal and sending money back to Granny
But he never left Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave

And the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinking how to get away

In the deep, dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place that I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
"You'll never leave Harlan alive"

credits

from Song of the Week III, track released January 20, 2015
Songwriter: Darrell Scott

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Drew G. Smith Kansas City, Missouri

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