Daylight of dark
In rain or shine
It don't much matter
Down in the mine
Where the tunnel's deep
Lord, the air gets thin
That's the way of life
For the minin' man

His lungs are weak
His back is gone
His sixty years
Are plainly shown
Lived half his life
Down in the ground
A cold steel hammer
Rings a mournful sound

Daylight of dark
In rain or shine
It don't much matter
Down in the mine
Where the tunnel's deep
Lord, the air gets thin
That's the way of life
For the minin' man

I'll tell you, son
He said to me
There's just two things
I pray to see
That the day my savior
Calls me home
And to see my son
Stop minin' coal

Oh daddy dear
I'll tell you true
There's nothing else
For me to do
But to make my livin'
Underneath this land
And live and die
A coal minin' man

Daylight of dark
In rain or shine
It don't much matter
Down in the mine
Where the tunnel's deep
Lord, the air gets thin
That's the way of life
For the minin' man

I'll make my livin'
Underneath this land
And die like you
A coal minin' man