[=- SeattleSysop -=] (oh lord) (my darling) The whistle blows at sundown you stumble through the door Black dust covers everything you've been mining for I heat the water in the tub like I do every night Scrub the coal from off your skin by the dim kitchen light Your shoulders tight from swinging that pick all day I work the soap in circles washing the mine away Your cough sounds like gravel deep inside your chest The mine is taking pieces you haven't noticed yet I wash the black away every evening when you come But the black lung's waiting to finish what it's begun Daddy died at forty crushed by that mountain stone Brother followed after never made it home I love you through the bitter this is all I know Washing off the coal dust watching you go slow (oh lord) (my darling) (oh lord) (my darling) I make your dinner simple beans and coffee strong You sit there coughing quiet but the sound goes on too long The lines around your eyes are deeper every year I bite my tongue from screaming out my deepest fear The mine has claimed my family one man at a time Now it's coming for you and I can't change the line Your rough hands hold me gentle though the work has made them hard We lie there in the darkness no need for many words This hard and bitter living is the only life we've known But in your arms I find a love that time can't take alone I wash the black away every evening when you come But the black lung's waiting to finish what it's begun Daddy died at forty brother never made it home I'm waiting on the dust now to claim you for its own I love you through the bitter this is all I know Washing off the coal dust watching you go slow (oh lord) (my darling) (oh lord) (my darling) I wash the black away... (oh lord) (my darling) (oh lord) (my darling)
