Digging My Own Grave

From the break of dawn to sundown, my daddy worked the mine
 Well, the only time I saw his face was Sunday dinnertime
 He'd cough and cuss for hours as he washed the dirt away
 My mama always told him, "You're digging your own grave"
 Digging your own grave
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 He swung that hammer 30 years 'til coal dust filled his lungs
 He never did breathe easy until his life was done
 Oh, just to feed the family, I had to take his place
 But I swore I wouldn't spend my life digging my own grave
 Digging my own grave
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 Way back in the mountains, each man had to choose
 A life of crime or work in mine was all we ever knew
 So I spent the great depression down here over coal
 Until the day the timber caved and trapped me in this hole
 Trapped me in this hole
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 There's no way they can hear me from a thousand feet down
 And God knows how quiet it is beneath the ground
 But even here I believe they'll hear me when I pray
 As I face my final hours digging my own grave
 Digging my own grave