Intro: D
D
They learned readin', writin', Route 23
G D
To the jobs that lay waiting in those cities' factories
A
they didn't know that that old highway
G D
Could lead them to a world of misery
D
Have you ever been down Kentucky way
Say south of Prestonburg
Have you ever been up in a holler
Have you ever heard
G
A mountain man cough his life away
From diggin' that black coal
D
In those dark mines, those old dark mines
C
If you had you might just understand
G D
The reason that they left is all behind
Chorus: