Coal Town Road
(Allister MacGillivray)

We get up in the black
Down the coal town road
And we hike along the track
Where the coal trains load
And you make the ponies pull
Till they almost break their backs
And they'll never see again
Down the coal town road.

We hear the whistle call
Down the coal town road
And we take our towels and all
Where the coal trains load
In the cages then we drop
Till there's nowhere else to fall
And we leave the world behind
Down the coal town road.

We never see the sun
Down the coal town road
At a penny for the ton
Where the coal trains roll
When the shift comes up on top
We're so thankful to be done
We head home to sleep and dream
About the coal town road.

There's miners' little sons
Down the coal town road
Playing with their cowboy guns
Where the coal trains roll
But they'd better make the best
Of their childhood while it runs
There's a pick and shovel waitin'
Down the coal town road.

If there's a God for us
Down the coal town road
All the miners he can bless
Where the coal trains roll
For we're sweatin' in the hole
Suckin' down that Devil's dust
Just to keep the fires blazin'
Down the coal town road.


Recorded by The Men of the Deeps (Cape Breton Group)
RG