Kathy Mattea - Blue Diamond Mines INTRO: G F G F G F I remember the ways in the bygone days G F G When we were in our prime F When us and John L give the old man hell G F G Down in the Blue Diamond Mine F Well, the whistle blowed as the rooster crow G F G Two hours before daylight F When a man done his best and he's earned his good rest G F G Paid seventeen dollars a night CHORUS: F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G I worked my life away F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G Oh, fall on your knees and pray INTERLUDE: G F G C G F You old black gold, you've taken my lung G F G And your dust has darkened my home F And now that we're old, you're turning your back G F G Where else can an old miner go F Well, it's Algoma Block and it's Big Leather Woods G F G And now its Blue Diamond too F Well, the pits are all closed, better get another job G F G What else can an old miner do? CHORUS: F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G I worked my life away F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G Oh, fall on your knees and pray INTERLUDE: G F G C G F John L had a dream, but it's broken it seems G F G Mining has had it's day F But they're stripping off my mountain top G F G And they pay me eight dollars a day F You might get a little poke of welfare meal G F G A little poke of welfare flour F But I tell you right now, you won't qualify G F G 'Til you work for a quarter an hour CHORUS: F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G I worked my life away F In the mines in the mines G C In the Blue Diamond Mines G F G Oh, fall on your knees and pray OUTRO: G F G C G