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Coal Tattoo

from Tim Harrison by Tim Harrison

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Written by the great Billy Edd Wheeler.

lyrics

COAL TATTOO
©Billy Edd Wheeler 1963 (arrangement by Tim Harrison)

I’m goin’ down that coal road leavin’ this town
Hear the rubber tires whine
Good bye buckeye and white sycamore
I’m leavin’ you behind
Cause I’ve been a miner all of my days, layin’ down track in the hole
Got a back like iron wood bent with the wind
And blood veins blue as the coal, boys, blood veins blue as the coal

Somebody said that’s a strange tattoo
That you have on the side of your head
I said that’s the mark of number 9 coal
Any closer I’d have been dead
Still I love the rumble and I love the dark
I love the cool of the slate
But I’m goin’ down a new road lookin’ for a job
It’s this travel and lookin’ I hate, boys, this travel and lookin’ I hate

I stood for the unions and I stood on the line
Worked against the companies
I stood for the UMWA
Now who’s gonna’ stand for me
‘cause I got no money and I got no pay
All I got me is a troubled soul
And this blue tattoo on the side of my head
Made by number 9 coal boys, made by number 9 coal
When I die and I go to heaven
Land of my dreams
I won’t have to worry about losin’ my job
To hard times and big machines

credits

from Tim Harrison, released January 1, 1999
Tim Harrison, vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin; Dennis Pendrith, bass; Al Cross; drums and percussion; Gary Craig, drums on Tracks 2, 4 and 5; Joao Carvalho, mandola; Chris Quinn, banjo; Kim Deschamps, dobro; Zeke Mazurek, fiddle; Rick Fielding, mandolin; Rick Whitelaw, acoustic guitar; Loretto Reid, whistles, flutes, concertina; Chris Whiteley, trumpet; Chris Gale, saxes; Liane de Lotbinere, background vocals; Dee Potter, background vocals on "Maguire;" Beverly Kreller, background vocals; Mose Scarlett, background vocals; Jack Breakfast, piano; Kevin Gould, organ, accordion and background vocals.

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Tim Harrison Owen Sound, Ontario

Biography
Tim Harrison has worked as an artist, songwriter, and as a creator of arts events.. Along with founding the Owen Sound Summerfolk Festival,Tim has been Artistic Director of the Mariposa, Northwind, and Eaglewood Folk Festivals, and the Big Fish Music Fest.
Tim has released eight highly acclaimed recordings of original material and has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada.
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