Tom Flannery - The Anthracite Shuffle lyrics

There once was a man name Conor Shaw he like to do the anthracite shuffle He'd get all the ladies crowding around always ends up in a scuffle Old Conor marched right into town no mine boss could ever Pin him down he loved to do the anthracite shuffle The men would gather where the fiddle played they knew Conor would come around He'd come in with a pair of shiny shoes and lay his money down He'd say we live like corpses during the day so tonight we're Gonna dance our blues away doing the anthracite shuffle Now my baby greets me with a smile When I make my way back home I say lay right down little darling You're gonna reap what I have sown Now a man with a smile in a mining town is greeted with suspicion Preacher rains abuse on our heads but we ain't even listening Old Conor Shaw rises from his pew says 'Father I bet I could teach you too' how to do the anthracite shuffle When the breaker boys started shuffling the superintendent couldn't take no more The mine police met in secret and they drew lots on the floor Oh Conor lay sleeping in his bed and a peeler shot him In the head all for doing the anthracite shuffle If you listen hard at night You can still hear the fiddle play And Conor's blood remains On the floor board to this day