Trip To Hyden - Tom T. Hall

Tossed and turned the night before in some old motel

Subconsciously recallin' some old sinful thing I’d done

My buddy drove the car and those big coal trucks shook us up

As we drove on into Hyden in the early morning sun

Past the hound dogs and some domineckered chickens

Temporary-lookin' houses with their lean and bashful kids

Every hundred yards a sign proclaimed

That Christ was coming soon

And I thought, «Well, man, he’d sure be disappointed if he did.»

On the way we talked about the 40 miners

Of the 39 who died and one who lived to tell the tale

We stopped for beans and cornbread at the Ed & Lois Cafe

Then went to see the sherrif at the Leslie County Jail

They took us to the scene of that disaster

I was so surprised to not find any sign of death at all

Just another country hillside with some mudholes and some junk

The mines were deadly silent like a rathole in the wall

«It was just like being right inside of a shotgun.»

The old man coughed and lit a cigarette that he had rolled

Back in town I bought a heavy jacket from a store

It was sunny down in Hyden but somehow the town was cold

The old man introduced the undertaker

Who seemed refreshed despite the kind of work I knew he did

We talked about the pretty lady from the Grand Ole Opry

An' we talked about the money she was raisin' for the kids

Well, I guess the old man thought we were reporters

He kept reminding me of how his simple name was spelled

Some lady said, «They worth more money now than when they’s a-livin'.

«And I’ll leave it there cause I suppose she told it pretty well