The Danville Blues

Well I used to go down
And put a penny on those tracks
Run up to the general store
Come back and find if flat
Now I find ways
To fade it all to black
Cause the next train out of Danville
Ain't ever coming back in

First they took our money
Then they sold our soul
Cause the only thing we ever knew
Was how to dig for coal
Grandpas in the ground here
And daddy's growing old
But now there ain't no place in Danville
That makes it look like home

There used to be something to live for
A paycheck at the end of the week
The American dream was never more
Than a house down by Hewitt's Creek
There used to be ballrooms and ball games
And nights on the Summersville shore
A bar where everyone knew your name
But Danville ain't the same anymore
No Danville ain't the same anymore

Now Mama she got cancer
She's losing all her hair
And daddy doesn't talk
It's like he isn't even there
I tried to look for work
But I'd rather kick the chair
Cause those bastards at the coal plant
Had us breathing poison air

There used to be something to live for
A union full of hard working men
They say they don't need us anymore
And it's likely that they never will again
There used to be long lines of coal trains
Shipping out to power the war
A lover who'd softly say my name
But Danville ain't the same anymore
No Danville ain't the same anymore

We used to have something
We could leave behind
Now we've left our kids
To live on borrowed time
Stole for generations
But never charged for crimes
Everywhere is Danville
When the waters start to rise

There used to be something to live for
Like breathing in cool mountain air
A forest full of dogwoods and sycamores
But we burned it all be for you got there
There used to be hope for a future
But we ran all the rivers dry
Now no one know for sure
If we have what it takes to survive
If we have what it takes to survive