It happened an hour ago
Way down in this tunnel of coal
Gas caught fire from somebody's lamp
And the miners are choking in smoke

Goodbye to Dickie and Honey
Goodbye to the wife that I love
Lot of these men not coming home
Tonight when the work whistle blows

Dear sisters and brothers goodbye
Dear mother and father goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye

It looks like the end for me
And all of my buddies I see
We're all writing letters to children we love
Please carry our word to our wives

We, found a little place in the air
Crawled and drug ourselves here
But the smoke is bad and the fumes coming in
And the gas is burning my eyes

Dear sisters and brothers goodbye
Dear mother and father goodbye
My fingers are weak and I cannot write
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye