Black Soot and Red Blood

Tonight the dis-harmonic symphony of the cicadas plagues my ears
Drifting off to the mind numbing hum of grinding gears
Families starving in the eerie silence of the hills
Lie exposed to the elements so fierce, so fierce

Hold out just one more day
Say the same tomorrow
Say the same tomorrow
For the union hold out
For a fair wage and a living this sorrow
For a fair wage and a living this sorrow

Living and dying union men
Living and dying union men

Meet them in the streets
Meet them in the hollers
Meet them in the hills and don't back down, don't back down

Fight for what is right
For every working man to earn his keep
Fight for what is right
'Til they meet your demands in bloody harlan

[Speech]
Well, at that time we were working ten hours a day
But we were getting 6 and a fraction cents an hour
Well, we breaker-boys would have our feet in the (coal) chute
And we'd be picking the slate out
Well, the breaker-boss'd sneak up behind us
And if he'd see a piece of slate coming through
He'd pick up the piece and he'd hit you in the back with it, and he'd hit you hard!
And he'd say, pick that slate out!
Well, he used to abuse us actually
Well, finally, we got to a stage where we figured that, well, we're going to strike
That was when I learned my first real important lesson
About what happens when you take a position against the coal operators
Against the catholics
Well, the first thing that happened
The union officials came to us and told us had to go back to work
That we were violating the 'agreement.'
We said, to hell with the agreement, we're going to stay out
And strike until we get our demands
Well, then the politicians started visiting us
And putting pressure on us and the parish priests
Well, finally the coal company agreed to meet with us
And they agreed to raise the hourly pay from 6-and-a-fraction cents to 8 cents an hour
So we got big concession, today that wouldn't mean anything, that's only peanuts
But it meant a whole lot to us, for our paycheck at that time
Well, this was my first lesson that if you stuck to your senses
Stuck to your organization, and stuck together in solidarity you could defeat them
Besides that I learned that the politicians worked with the coal companies
I found out the union officials were working with the coal companies
I also found out that the catholic hierarchy was working with the coal commissions
Here was a combination of the whole thing, see?
That you had to pulp up against the whole combination
When the coal and iron trying out find out
Who was trying to instigate a union, well, they'd abuse them!
[Speech continues]

Lives laid down for the union
Scarlet red around your neck
Black lungs and broken backs in bloody harlan, in bloody harlan, in bloody harlan

The years go on and the mountains crumble
The right to live and work, sacrificing body and land
From kentucky to West Virginia the workers rise and fall
While wringing hands profit off of it all