Coal Tattoo by Billy Edd Wheeler Travelin' down that coal town road. Listen to my rubber tires whine. Goodbye to buckeye and white sycamore. I'm leaving you behind. I've been a coal man all of my life, laying down track in the hole. Got a back like an iron wood, bent by the wind. Blood veins blue as the coal. Blood veins blue as the coal. Somebody said, "That's a strange tattoo you have on the side of your head." I said, "That’s a blueprint left by the number nine coal. A little more and I'd have been dead. Oh, but I love the rumble and I love the dark. I love the cool of the slate, But it’s on down a new road, looking for a job. Traveling and looking, I hate. I stood for the union and walked in the line. I fought against the company. I stood for the U. M. W. of A. Now, who's gonna stand for me? ‘Cause I got no house and I got no pay. Just got a worrying soul And a blue tattoo on the side of my head Left by the number nine coal. Left by the number nine coal. Someday when I die and go to heaven, the land of my dreams. I won't have to worry about losing my job to bad times or big machines. And I ain’t gonna pay my money away or lose my hospital plans. I'm gonna dig that coal while the blue heavens roll. Singing with the angel band. Singing with the angel band.