Travelin' down that coal town road   Listenin' to my rubber tires whine   Goodbye to Buckeye and white Sycamore   I'm leavin' you behind      I've been coal miner all of my life   Layin' down track in the hole   Gotta back like an ironwood, bit by the wind   Blood veins blue as the coal   Blood veins blue as the coal      Somebody said, "That's a strange tattoo   You have on the side of your head"   I said, "That's the blueprint left by the coal   A little more and I'd been dead"      Well, I love the rumble and I love the dark   I love the cool of the Slade   And it's on down the new road, lookin' for a job   This travelin' nook in my head      I stood for the union and walked in the line   And fought against the company   I stood for the U. M. W. of A   Now, who's gonna stand for me?      I've got no house and I got no job   Just got a worried soul   And a blue tattoo on the side of my head   Left by the number nine coal   Left by the number nine coal.      Some day when I'm dead and gone   To Heaven, the land of my dreams   I won't have to worry on losin' my job   On bad times and big machines      I ain't gonna pay my money away   On dues or hospital plans   I'm gonna pick coal where the blue Heavens roll   And sing with the Angel Band      I ain't gonna pay my money away   On dues or hospital plans   I'm gonna pick coal where the blue Heavens roll   And sing with the Angel Band