Tonight, the disharmonic symphony of the cicadas plague 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
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 till they meet your demands…in Bloody Harlan

[Sample]
Well at that time we were working 10 hours a day, and we were getting 6 and a fraction cents an hour. Well, we breaker boys, we'd have our feet in the chute. And we'd be picking the slate out, when the breaker boss would sneak up behind us, and if he'd see a piece of slate coming through, he'd pick up the scrape and he'd hit you in the back with it, and he'd hit you hard! And then he'd say "Pick that slate out!". Well they used to abuse us, actually

Well, finally, we got to a state where we figured, well, there was always a strike. And that was when I learned my first real political lesson, about what happens when you won't take a position against the coal upgraders, against the capitalists. The first thing that happened, the union officials came to us and said that we had to go back to work, that we were violating the agreement. We said "To hell with the agreement, we're gonna stay out on strike until we get our demands!". Well then the politicians began messing with us, and putting pressure on us. Then of course, the priests

Well finally, the coal company did agree to meet with us. And they agreed to raise the hourly pay from 6 and a fraction cents to 8 cents a hour. So we got big concessions today that wouldn't mean anything but peanuts, but it meant a whole lot to us, and our paycheck at that period. Well, this was my first lesson, that if you stuck to your senses, stuck to your organization, and stuck together, within solidarity, you could defeat them

Besides that, I learned that the politicians, worked with the coal companies. I found out, that the union officials, were working with the coal companies. I also found out, that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the coal companies. Here was a combination of the whole thing, you see? And you had to pump up, against the whole combination. When the coal mine priests would find out, who was trying to instigate a union... Well, they'd abuse them
[Song resumes]
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...

[Sample]
SHAME! (yelled continuously)
91 years old! You need to calm down sir, that's police brutality!
I'm ready to die, are you?