Ruby Friedman and Nick Page - You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive lyrics

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky That's the place where I traced my bloodline And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone "You'll never leave Harlan alive" Oh my grandfather's dad crossed the Cumberland Mountains Where he took a pretty girl to be his bride Said "Won't you walk with me out the mouth of this holler Or we'll never leave Harlan alive" Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin' And the sun goes down about three in the day And you'll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin' 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 you for your minerals" He never left Harlan alive *instrumental interlude - Banjo solo* Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin' And the sun goes down about three in the day And you'll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinkin' And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away