Come and listen you fellows So young and do fine And seek not your fortune In the dark, dreary mines It will form as a habit Seep in your soul 'Til the blood in your veins Runs as black as the coal
There's many a man That I've known in my day Who lived just to labor His whole life away
Like a fiend with his dope And a drunkard his wine A man will have lust for The lure of the mine
It's dark as a dungeon Damp as the dew The danger is double And the pleasures are few
Where the rain never falls Where the sun never shines It's dark as a dungeon Way down in the mine
I hope when I'm gone And the ages shall roll My body will blacken And turn into coal
Then I'll look out the door Of my heavenly home And I'll pity the miners A-diggin' my bones
It's dark as a dungeon Damp as the dew The danger is double And the pleasures are few
Where the rain never falls Where the sun never shines It's dark as a dungeon Way down in the mine
Where the rain never falls Where the sun never shines It's dark as a dungeon Way down in the mine