DESCRIPTION:
This song is from Merle Travis's 1963 album, "Songs of the Coalmines", which has been released as a CD together with a collection of songs from 1946 and 1947 called "Back Home". Tony Oppegard, a lawyer who fights for the rights of coal miners, was kind enough to send me the CD and told me he liked this song, so here it is, dedicated to Tony.

Merle introduces the song on the recording with the following words:

Back in the days when the United Miner Workers of America was a strugglin' infant which growed up to be a giant. There was strikes and more strikes and there was violence and more violence. One of the most violent minin' districts was up in Harlan County in East Kentucky. Everybody was readin' the newspaper headlines tellin' of bloody battles between men who saw things differently. A lot of blood was shed and too many lives were lost and a reputation growed. The nation become aware that there was a deadly seriousness, that Harlan County miners intended to be organized Union workers or to give their lives in the fight and a lot of 'em did.

Lyrics and chords:
.............. C ................................................... F .................... C
You've heard of bloody battles when Kentucky miners strike
............................................................. G7
And rile the boys from Fulton County all the way to Pike.
...... C ............................................................. F ........................ C
As famous as all the feudin' between the Hatfields and McCoys
....................................... F .................. G7 .................... C
Was the fightin' for the Union by the Harlan County boys.

Miners came from Perry County, some of them came from Boyd,
Some of them came from Letcher and some of them came from Floyd.
A lot of them came from Breathitt and they made a lot of noise
But the fightingest of the Union men were the Harlan County boys.

John L Lewis, their leader, said, “The pay is mighty low
And too many people are starvin' when the summer work is slow.
I'll stand up for my Union men through all their grief and joys.”
Well he must have been right proud of all the Harlan County boys.

So here's to all the Union men alive or in their graves
Who fought to make the miner more than just a lot of slaves
Who couldn't buy their wife a dress or buy their children toys.
Oh, we owe a heck of a lot to all the Harlan County boys.


You can see a playlist of my mining songs here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PLCF909DA14CE415DF

Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com