Tell the miners' kids and wives   There's a blast in the number five   And the families I see standing at the gate   The inspector years ago said number five's a deadly hole   And the men most likely won't come out alive      Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate   Smoke and fire does boil and roll from that dark and deadly hole   While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate      The inspector told the boss, it was more than a year ago   You're risking these men's lives in number five   That hole's full of fumes and dust, full of high explosive gas   But the boss said we'll just have to take the chance      Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate   Smoke and fire does boil and roll from that dark and deadly hole   While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate      Well the men in the number five kissed their wives and kids goodbye   Then they walk with their lunch kits up the hill   Everybody told the owner that this deadly day would come   But he said we had to work to pay our bills      Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate   Smoke and fire does roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole   While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate      Well I tried to get a look of the face I often know   As the men are carried out wrapped up in sheets   I can hear the church bells ringing for the one hundred eleven dead   I can hear the families weeping in the streets      Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate   Smoke and fire does roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole   While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate      This explosion struck on Wednesday   And I stood by the gate till Saturday   Till they laid my daddy out with the other men   In the pocket of his shirt I found a little note he wrote   Never go down in a dangerous mine again      Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate   Smoke and fire does roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole   While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate