Talking Centralia Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[G]I'm[A][G]
just a miner in a mining town. I
[D]dig like a mole in a hole in the [G]ground.
When the sun comes up till the [C]sun goes down,
I [Dm]don't see [D]much sun [G]when I'm down in the ground.
Soft coal and [D]hard coal and lead and zinc
and [C]all [D]other kinds of [G]hard stuff.
It's a hard [D]liv[G]in'.
Got up this mornin' in the same ol' way,
Drunk my hot [D]coffee to [G]start off my day.
My wife gimme breakfast in
her stockin' feet,
And I kissed the kids in
[A]bed, and then I [G]walked
down the street.
Just walkin' along, watchin' the [C]sun come up, I
was just thinkin' an[D]d wonderin'.[A]
[D]Wonderin' and [G]thinkin'.
Centralia here is a pretty little town.
You can [C]see
Illinois for [D]miles [G]around.
Can't see too good with my [C]eyes full of sleep
[D]though. I'm gonna quit mining some
day and I'm gonna sleep about [G]a week.
Just solid [C]sleep.
[D]Hard down, hard up, good
old warm [G]sleep.
Dream myself up a lot of pretty dreams
about [C]pretty mine holes
and pretty mine bosses and
pretty mine owners
and pretty wo[Am]men a[D]ll over [G]the place.
Most men don't talk what's
eatin' on their [D]minds
about different ways of dying down
here in the [G]mines.
But every morning we walk
along and joke
about the [C]mines caving in,
the dust and the [G]smoke.
One little wild spark of fire
blowin' us [D]sky high [G]and crooked.
One little spark blowin' us
cross -eyed [D]and crazy.
Up to shake hands with all the
Lord's [G]little angels.[C][D]
[G]Well, we knock at the
gate and stand [C]and laugh,
An [D]elevator man drops us down his shaft,
We [G]scatter and kneel
and crawl different places
With [D]fumes in our eyes and
dust on our faces,
[G]Gas on our stomach and
water on our knee[D]cap,
Aches [Dm]an d pains and rheumatism,[D]
All kinds of crazy pictures [Bb]fly ing
[Dm]through our [G]head[C]s.[D]
[G]Well, this spark did hit us in the number [C]five,
I don't know if anybody [A]ever did come [G]out alive.
I got carried out with a busted head,
the [D]lady said there's a hundred and eleven [G]of us dead.
Well, this ain't [C]my first explosion,
I [G]come through two [D]cave -ins [Dm]an d two more fires before th[G]is.
Twenty -two dead down in
Ohio [C]and thirty [D]-six I seen [G]in
Kentucky later.
And there's a hundred and eleven here in
Sun
Trail.
Well, it seems like the very best [C]men go down,
they [D]don't come back in these [G]mining towns.
Keep on a -wondering how things would be
if a [D]cave -in had come to the
[G]Senator's seat.
Or a big explosion of [C]some kind was
[D]to go off up there in them
Congress [G]walls.
Wonder what sort of words and messages that
[D]they'd write on their [G]slates.
Wonder if they'd hire anybody
to come down to them
Senate [D]chambers
and put in some safety [G]devices,
nine hundred dollars worth.
I think it's just about enough
[D]loose gas
around that
Capitol
Dome up there, though,
to make a mighty big
blow if a spark ever hits it just right.