Oh Coal River won't you wash my bones away I'm slaving for the company and I can't get any pay Well mining coal ain't a way to make a life And I can't feed the hunger of three kids and a wife Now the hollers are empty And the company's left town And there ain't no more mountains For Coal River to bend around Well the curses in these mountains Taken many of our kind And the souls dance upon the sands Where that old river winds Oh lord won't you take me Before that mountain does A life in these hills ain't what I thought it was So oh Coal River won't you wash my bones away I'm slaving for the company and I can't get any pay Well mining coal ain't a way to make a life And I can't feed the hunger of three kids and a wife Now the hollers are empty And the company's left town And there ain't no more mountains For Coal River to bend around Coal River cuts the land Of whеre I rest my soul Through thesе barren mountains My story will be told I'm heading for a pine box My mining days are through Boy, don't trust these mountains For a curse they'll put on you