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 will never leave Harlan alive Oh, my granddad's dad walked down Katahrins Mountain And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride Said, won't you 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 thinkin' of how to get away No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains Till a man from the Northeast arrived Waving hundred dollar bills he said I'll pay ya for your minerals But he never left Harlan alive