Ringin' of the Hammer

Spent 15 long years on the chain gang
For a crime that he did not commit
Convicted by a girl to save her lover
She cried those tears and they would not acquit

Now the ringin' of the hammer
Is all that he can hear
It's like the tollin' of a bell
That he can't find
It's the sound of his regrets
And the only thing that's clear
Is the pounding of that metal in his mind

Spent 23 years down in that coal mine
Diggin in that lifeless old black wall
Walked away the day
The mountain took his friends lives
And left his guilty soul
To watch that dead dirt fall

Now the ringin' of the hammer
Is all that he can hear
It's like the tollin' of a bell
That he can't find
It's the sound of his regrets
And the only thing that's clear
Is the pounding of that metal in his mind

If you ever look into a man's eyes
Start to judge him cause he don't wear a smile
He could be carrying the weight of the world on his back
Or in his mind he might be walking
His last mile

And the ringin' of the hammer
Is all that he can hear
It's like the tollin' of a bell that he can't find
It's the sound of his regrets
And the only thing that's clear
Is the pounding of that metal in his mind

Yeah, the ringing of that bell
That he can't find
Yeah, the ringing of that hammer
In his mind