Hawk's Nest Tunnel

ii-I or i-VII chord progression

When i was a young man, a free man of twenty 
I traveled all over the land
And the rails I did ride until Union Carbide
Put a paycheck and a pick in my hand
With 3000 men back in 27
To take the New River northwest 
From the high sandstone hill over to Gauley’s Mill
With a tunnel down under Hawk’s Nest 

When we got the command to mine the rock sand
For the use in the company mill
Then we dug for the stone in the mountain’s deep bones
To the sound of a dry running drill
The dust cut your sight and turned your skin white 
And the cough rattled round in your chest
Out of the sight of God and the light 
In the tunnel down under Hawk’s Nest 

It wasn’t too strong ‘til your cough got so strong
That you’d fall out of place in the line
Then the company doc would give you the talk
And say you’d be better in time 
But time’s gone on and there’s more of us gone 
Than the company’s ever confessed 
For there’s 500 souls that we lost in the hole 
we were digging down under Hawk’s Nest 

Now the company says that they’ve paid all they owe
But I ain’t seen as much as a dime
There’s a pain in my chest like the cold grip of death 
And I know that it won’t be much time 
My kids are half grown, they’ll be on their own 
Once that they lay me to rest
And the mountain will stand like a cross in the sand
For the men who died under Hawk’s nest 

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