Key: G
Introduction: G F G F G
F
I remember the ways in the bygone days
G F G
When we were in our prime
F
When us and John L give the old man hell
G F G
Down in the Blue Diamond Mine
F
Well, the whistle blowed as the rooster crow
G F G
Two hours before daylight
F
When a man done his best and he's earned his good rest
G F G
Paid seventeen dollars a night
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
I worked my life away
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray
F
You old black gold, you've taken my lung
G F G
And your dust has darkened my home
F
And now that we're old, you're turning your back
G F G
Where else can an old miner go
F
Well, it's Algoma Block and it's Big Leather Woods
G F G
And now its Blue Diamond too
F
Well, the pits are all closed, better get another job
G F G
What else can an old miner do?
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
I worked my life away
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray
F
John L had a dream, but it's broken it seems
G F G
Mining has had it's day
F
But they're stripping off my mountain top
G F G
And they pay me eight dollars a day
F
You might get a little poke of welfare meal
G F G
A little poke of welfare flour
F
But I tell you right now, you won't qualify
G F G
'Til you work for a quarter an hour
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
I worked my life away
F
In the mines in the mines
G C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
G F G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray