That Mountain's Gone/Old King Coal

You might have heard a preacher,

you might have heard one say,

"You can move a mountain if you have the faith."

The coal company people, they've got faith all right.

They really believe in the power of dynamite.

The Good Book talks about fire and brimstone.

Here the earth shook, rocks and dust came raining down.

Whatever stood, they blew it right to kingdom come.

That mountain stood here

for thousands of years

but now the scene looks all wrong

because that mountain's gone.

As a crow flies over the place that mountain stood

he can see no trace of its meadows or green woods

and down in the hollow where the river used to flow

the water won't be going that way any more

and that bird cannot find a place to rest.

Nothing lives in the wasteland that they left

and you can bet there's some real poisons in that mess.

That mountain stood here...

When Old King Coal sits on the throne

some poison rains down on those below

and how it's hurting them, they will not know.

As they bow down to Old King Coal

he will be a merry old soul

as long as he has their silver and gold.

The coal company people tore the mountain down.

They took the black diamonds and then they moved on

but the other people, the ones who live nearby,

they're the ones who struggle each day to pay the price

and sometimes the earth moves again, oh, lord,

the landslide comes right down to someone's door

and there's no water to drink here any more.

That mountain stood here...

When Old King Coal sits on the throne

some poison rains down on those below

and how it's hurting them, they will not know.

As they bow down to Old King Coal

he will be a merry old soul

as long as he has their silver and gold.

There's a lyric video of this song which you can find here, and you can get this track from Amazon here. The rough cut video was posted on YouTube on 7/20/10 - click here to watch that video.