The Dying Miner

(album: Struggle - 1976)

It happened an hour ago
Way down in this tunnel of coal
Gas caught fire from somebody's lamp
And the miners are choking in smoke

Goodbye to Dickie and Honey
Goodbye to the wife that I love
Lot of these men not coming home
Tonight when the work whistle blows

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye
Dear mother and father, goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

It looks like the end for me
And all of my buddies I see
We're all writing letters to children we love
Please carry our word to our wives

We, found a little place in the air
Crawled and drug ourselves here
But the smoke is bad and the fumes coming in
And the gas is burning my eyes

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye
Dear mother and father, goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

Forgive me for the things I done wrong
I love you lots more than you know
When the night whistle blows and I don't come home
Do all that you can to help mom

I can hear the moans and groans
More than a hundred good men
Just work and fight and try to see
That this never happens again

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye
Dear mother and father, goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

My eyes are blinded with fumes
But it sounds like the men are all gone
'Cept Joe Valentini, Fred Gussler and George
Trapped down in this hell hole of fire

Please name our new baby Joe
So he'll grow up like big Joe
He'll work and he'll fight and he'll fix up the mines
So fire can't kill daddy no more

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye
Dear mother and father, goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye