(words by Merle Travis)
oh come all you fellas so young and so fine
seek not your fortune in a dark dreary mine
it'll form as a habit and seep in your soul
'til the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal
where it's dark as a dungeon, damp as the dew
danger is double, pleasures are few
where rain never falls, the sun never shines
it's dark as a dungeon, way down in the mine
like a fiend with his dope, a drunkard with his wine
a man will have lust for the lure of the mine
and i pray when i'm dead my ages shall roll
that my body will blackenand turn into coal
and i look from the door, of my heavenly home
and pity the miner digging my bones
where it's dark as a dungeon, damp as the dew
danger is double, pleasures are few
where the rain never falls, and the sun never shines
it's dark as a dungeon, way down in the mine