James Keelaghan Hillcrest Mine
Down in the mines of the Crowsnest Pass
It's the men that die in labour
Sweating coal from the womb of the pit
It's the smell of life they savour
And in that mine, young man, you'll find
A wealth of broken dreams --
As long and as dark and as black and as wide
As the coal in the Hillcrest seam.
And they say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine,
And they say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine
'Cause it's one short step,
you might leave this world behind,
And they say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine.
I've heard it whispered in the light of dawn
That mountain sometimes moves.
That bodes ill for the morning shift And you know what you're gonna lose.
Don't go, my son, where the deep coal runs.
Turn your back to the mine on the hill
'Cause if the dust and the dark and the gas don't getcha,
Then the goons and the bosses will.
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine
'Cause it's one short step,
you might leave this world behind,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine.
And they say you don't go!
Well son, I'm gonna open up
I'm gonna have my say
You'll get no peace from the Hillcrest Mine
'Cept the peace of an early grave
Go out and work for the workers' rights
Go work for the workers' needs
Don't stay down here to toil for your buck
To be a tool for the owner's greed
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine
'Cause it's one short step,
you might leave this world behind,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine.
And they say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine
'Cause it's one short step,
you might leave this world behind,
Say you don't go,
say you don't go down in the Hillcrest Mine.
