mine is a tale of many a man from pikeville on west of waco i make my living with my back and my hands searching the caverns for coal what s left of a man too soon past his prime most days i feel like a slave doing my time on the company dime down in a rock solid grave it s a dreary and dark deep down in the mine but it s a life to which i am bound where dreams of a young man just wither with time since i never got out of this town i spend my days below the ground when i was a boy about fifteen years old the mine wasn t part of my plan i had big dreams on down the road to be a doctor ora business man but then daddy he died with a chest full of coal and a new sense of duty arrived then i took his place down in that black hole and made sure the family survived it s a dreary and dark deep down in the mine but it s a life to which i am bound where dreams of a young man just wither with time since i never got out of this town i spend my days below the ground as i walk out the door i look down the hall toward the room of my only son and of the family pictures that hang on the wall i pray someday he ll be the one who can break down the chain of three generations and leave all the misery behind find a new town and a good occupation and leave me with some peace of mind  it s a dreary and dark deep down in the mine but it s a life to which i am bound where dreams of a young man just wither with time since i never got out of this town i spend my days below the ground