Coal Miner's Son
A Song by Martin Doherty©Martin Doherty 2011
I was born in Lithgow town many years ago,
I seen my father work so hard for the coal down below,
His eyes so red and spitting dust,
Conditions they were poor,
It's not easy to survive the Black Lung, that’s for sure.
Chorus:
I'm a coal miner's son,
I'm a coal miner's son.
Now and then he’d stop and smile
And tell us of days gone by,
How he'd roamed the fields of Ireland,
Where he grew up as a boy,
Killarney was the place where the salmon did fly
And the wild birds sang their tune,
But times got hard, so he packed his bag
And said goodbye to the land of his youth.
10 pounds got him to New South Wales,
The journey it was long,
The dream he had, kept him strong,
It was the reason he carried on,
There was no work around in Sydney town
'til he read in the paper one day,
There were coal miners wanted in the Lithgow valley,
A place many miles away.
He settled down with a girl from Wang,
They were happy with a daughter and two sons,
But when the Black Lung calls you have no choice,
It comes and takes you down,
All miner's know it's just a matter of time,
But still they carry on,
It's not easy, but it's the way of life,
On the Long Wall, underground.
So now I've packed my bags and said goodbye,
The mine could never set me free,
I'll take a chance and chase my dreams,
Killarney is the place for me,
I'll roam the fields where the wild birds sing,
Fish the streams where the salmon run,
But I'll always remember the land of my youth,
I'm proud to be a coal miner's son.
Chorus x2