Tom T. Hall - Trip To Hyden lyrics

Tossed and turned the night before
In some old motel
Subconsciously recallin' some old sinful
Thing I'd done
My buddy drove the car and those
Big coal trucks shook us up
As we drove on into Hyden
In the early morning sun
Past the hound dogs and
Some domineckered chickens
Temporary-lookin' houses with their lean
And bashful kids
Every hundred yards a sign proclaimed
That Christ was coming soon
And I thought, "Well, man
He'd sure be disappointed if he did"
On the way we talked about the 40 miners
Of the 39 who died and one
Who lived to tell the tale
We stopped for beans and cornbread at
The Ed & Lois Cafe
Then went to see the sherrif
At the Leslie County Jail
They took us to the scene of that disaster
I was so surprised to not find
Any sign of death at all
Just another country hillside with some
Mudholes and some junk
The mines were deadly silent like
A rathole in the wall
"It was just like being right
Inside of a shotgun"
The old man coughed and lit a
Cigarette that he had rolled
Back in town I bought a
Heavy jacket from a store
It was sunny down in Hyden but
Somehow the town was cold
The old man introduced the undertaker
Who seemed refreshed despite the kind of
Work I knew he did
We talked about the pretty lady
From the Grand Ole Opry
An' we talked about the money she
Was raisin' for the kids
Well, I guess the old man
Thought we were reporters
He kept reminding me of how
His simple name was spelled some lady said
"They worth more money now than
When they's a-livin' "
And I'll leave it there cause I
Suppose she told it pretty well