he was a coal miner in the spring blinded with its dusty resolutions broke his back for higher contributions now he d take anything well she was nineteen seventy burning like a cigarette long season heir to all her family s old treasons she makes love hard like an enemy oh ma he s dying and the river don t sleep when the water runs cold and the calendar burns as the story unfolds and the valley spans miles when the mountain stands high can t they let us run wild for another midnight for just another midnight perhaps we re an election day pumping hands and kissing all the babies ain t no time for shadowed doubts or maybes is there another way or we re a stolen cadillac racing for a roadblock in the distance flashing by a lifetime in an instance can we take it back oh ma he s dying oh ma he s dying and the river don t sleep when the water runs cold and the calendar burns as the story unfolds and the valley spans miles when the mountain stands high can t they let us run wild for another midnight can we take it back can we take it back can we take it back can we take it back and the valley spans miles when the mountain stands high can t they let us run wild for another midnight for just another midnight for just another midnight for another midnight