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