You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[D]In [Bm]the deep,
dark [D]hills [A]of East[E]ern Kentucky
[Bm]That's the place where [D]I trace
[G]my bloodline
And it's there [D]that I read on
[A]a hillside [E]gravestone
"You will [G]never leave [F#]Harlan alive"
[Bm]

[Verse 2]
Well my [D]Granddaddy's dad crossed
the Cum[A]berland Moun[E]tain
And he [Bm]asked Nelly Has
[D]sell to be his [G]bride
Said, [D]"Won't you [G]walk with [D]me out
of [A]the mouth of [E]this holler
Or we'll [G]never leave [F#]Harlan [Bm]alive"

[Verse 3]
Where the sun comes [D]up about
[G]ten [A]in the morn[D]ing
And the sun [Bm]goes down
about [C]three [D]in the day
[G]And you fil[D]l your cup with whatever
[G]bitter brew [A]you're drink[D]ing
And you spend your [Bm]life
thinking of [C]how to [Bm]get away

[Verse 4]
No one [Bm]ever [D]knew there was
[A]coal in them moun[E]tains
'Til [Bm]a man from [D]the northeast
ar[G]rived
[D]Waving [G]hundred dollar bill[D]s,
he said "I'll [A]pay you for your min[E]erals"
But he [G]never left [F#]Harlan alive
[Bm][G][F#]

[Verse 5]
[Bm]
Well Granny sold out [D]cheap and they
[A]moved out west of Pinev[E]ille
To [Bm]a farm where Big [D]Richland River [G]winds
And I [D]bet they [G]danced them [D]a jig,
and they laughed and [A]sang a new song
[E]"Who said we'd nev[G]er leave
[F#]Harlan alive?"

[Interlude 1]
[Bm][D][A][E][G][F#]
[Bm]

[Verse 6]
But [Bm]the times, they got [D]hard and
to[A]bacco wasn't [E]selling
And old [Bm]Granddad knew what
[D]he'd do to sur[G]vive
Well he [D]went [G]and dug for Harlan coal
[D]And he sent the[A] money back to Gra[E]nny
But he [G]never left [F#]Harlan [Bm]alive

[Verse 7]
Where the sun comes [D]up about
[G]ten [D]in the morning
And the [A]sun [Bm]goes down about
[C]three [G]in the day
And you [D]fill your cup with whatever [G]bit
ter brew [A]you're drink[D]ing
And you spend your [Bm]life just
thinking of [C]how to get away
[D]And the sun comes up about
[G]ten [A]in the morn[D]ing
And the sun [Bm]goes down about
[C]three [G]in the day
And you [A]fill your [D]cup with whatever
[G]bitter brew [A]you're drink[D]ing
And you [A]spend your [Bm]life diggin' coal
from the [C]bottom [Bm]of your grave

[Verse 8]
In the [Bm]deep,
dark [D]hills of [A]East[E]ern Kentucky
That's [Bm]the place where I
[D]trace my blood[G]line
And it's there that I [D]read on a
[A]hillside [E]gravestone
"You will [G]never leave [F#]Harlan [Bm]alive"