The Dying Miner - Woody Guthrie

It happened an hour ago

Way down in this tunnel of coal

Gas caught fire from somebody’s lamp

And the miners are choking in smoke

Goodbye to Dickie and Honey

Goodbye to the wife that I love

Lot of these men not coming home

Tonight when the work whistle blows

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye

Dear mother and father, goodbye

My fingers are weak and I cannot write

Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

It looks like the end for me

And all of my buddies I see

We’re all writing letters to children we love

Please carry our word to our wives

We, found a little place in the air

Crawled and drug ourselves here

But the smoke is bad and the fumes coming in

And the gas is burning my eyes

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye

Dear mother and father, goodbye

My fingers are weak and I cannot write

Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

Forgive me for the things I done wrong

I love you lots more than you know

When the night whistle blows and I don’t come home

Do all that you can to help mom

I can hear the moans and groans

More than a hundred good men

Just work and fight and try to see

That this never happens again

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye

Dear mother and father, goodbye

My fingers are weak and I cannot write

Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

My eyes are blinded with fumes

But it sounds like the men are all gone

'Cept Joe Valentini, Fred Gussler and George

Trapped down in this hell hole of fire

Please name our new baby Joe

So he’ll grow up like big Joe

He’ll work and he’ll fight and he’ll fix up the mines

So fire can’t kill daddy no more

Dear sisters and brothers, goodbye

Dear mother and father, goodbye

My fingers are weak and I cannot write

Goodbye Centralia, goodbye