Near an old Kentucky town
I made my livin' underground.
And seldom would I see the light of day.

Where coal once was king,
I made may hammer ring.
That's a sound that will not soon fade away.

But now the coal train’s turned to rust,
and my lungs are full of dust.
And my time on this earth is through.

For forty years I dug their coal,
till the minin' took its toll.
Now all I ask is this favor of you.

When I die, when I'm gone,
o'er my body sing a song.
So the angels will come and take my soul.

Dig my grave neath the pines,
on a hill far from the mines.
Make my tombstone out of number nine coal,
make my tombstone out of number nine coal.

Near an old Kentucky town,
while the leaves were fallin' down,
a family lay their kin to rest.

While they sang "Amazing Grace",
with a tear on every face,
a miner got his last request.