Musiq Soulchild - Black Lung Blues lyrics

My daddy was a minor dang near all his life
From the day that he turned sixteen
To the day before he died
Born in Mingo County, in the spring of '22
Coal mines and moonshine
The only life he knew

He'd break out his fiddle and
Play the same ol' tune so get your guitars
And play the Black Lung Blues
He used to tell me stories
Of how he first began
Back before the Union, digging coal by hand

Once he recalled, in the fall of '45
Sixteen men went in that day
And three came out alive
If you lived in West Virginia
You know the story well
Living, down in the depths of Hell

Son, this ol' coal dust is gonna be my death
I'm going merry, fighting for my breath
Relayed him in the mountain
But his memory lingers on
Every time I hear a fiddle
Play that lonesome song