Coalminers
Uncle Tupelo Lyrics

Come, all you coalminers
Calling out to all coalminers to listen to the following story

Wherever you may be
Asking coalminers regardless of their location to listen

And listen to the story
Urging coalminers to pay close attention to the upcoming tale

That I relate to thee
Referring to the upcoming narrative he is about to share

My name is nothing extra
Introducing himself as an ordinary man

But the truth to you I tell
Assuring listeners that he will only tell the truth

I am a coalminer
Revealing that he is also a coalminer

And I'm sure I wish you well
Wishing the best for the fellow coalminers

I was born in old Kentucky
Sharing his place of birth in Kentucky

In a coal camp, born and bred
Explaining that he was born and raised in a coal camp

I know about old beans
Informing listeners that he is familiar with the food of coalminers

Bulldog gravy and cornbread
Describing the type of food he knows miners eat

I know how the miners work and slave
Acknowledging the hard labor coalminers endure

In the coalmines every day
Noting that coalminers work in the mines daily

For a dollar in the company store
Expressing that the coalminers only receive a small wage from the company store

For that is all they pay
Stating that the small wage is all the coalminers receive

Mining is the most dangerous work
Highlighting the danger of working as a miner

In our land today
Revealing that mining is a current labor issue

Plenty of dirty, slaving work
Explaining the nature of their work

For very little pay
Elaborating that the pay-off is not worth the work put into it

Coalminers, won't you wake up
Urging coalminers to start realizing their situation

And open your eyes and see
Encouraging coalminers to recognize the reality of their situation

What this dirty capitalist system
Calling out the corrupt nature of the system

Has done to you and me
Explaining the effects of the unfair system on the miners

Dear miners, they will slave you
Acknowledging miners' reality of being slaves to the system

Until you can't work no more
Pointing out that the system is willing to work miners until they can no longer work

And what will you get for your labor but a dollar in the company store
Asking the miners to consider what they get in return for their acquired labor

A tumbledown shack to live in
Describing the poor living conditions that miners have to endure

Snow and rain pouring through the top and you have to pay the company rent and your payments will never stop
Pointing out the difficult and unfair living conditions that miners face having to pay rent that they can never fully fulfill

They take our very lifeblood
Referring to the emphasis on the sacrifice miners have to make on the job

They take our children's lives
Importance on the fact that being a miner and the harsh work environment takes a toll on miners' families

Take fathers away from children
Explaining the hardship on the children of the miners who suffer due to the nature of their work and absence of their fathers as a result

Take husbands away from wives
Highlighting the toll that the harshness of mining can take on familial relationships

Coalminers, won't you organize
Encouraging coalminers to come together and take action together for their rights

Wherever you may be
Noting that coalminers can band together wherever they are located

And make this a land of freedom
Asking coalminers to come together to fight for their version of the American freedom

For workers, like you and me
Validating everyone's right to work and labor for fair compensation

I am a coalminer
Reminding listeners of the struggle that he shares with them

And I'm sure I wish you well
Closing the song with a reminder that it is important to look out for each other as they fight for workers' rights

Let's sink this capitalist system
To get rid of the unfair economic structure plaguing for far too long

To the darkest pits of hell
To dismantle the capitalist system entirely, condemning it to where it belongs and replacing it with something better