Blue Diamond Mines chords by Kathy Mattea

Intro:
 G  F  G F G

              F
I remember the ways in the bygone days
   G    F   G
When we were in our prime
              F
When us and John L give the old man hell
   G      F    G
Down in the Blue Diamond Mine


                F
Well, the whistle blowed as the rooster crow
  G    F    G
Two hours before daylight
                 F
When a man done his best and he's earned his good rest
   G     F     G
Paid seventeen dollars a night

          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
 G     F   G
I worked my life away
          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
  G      F     G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray


INTERLUDE: G F G C  G


              F
You old black gold, you've taken my lung
     G    F      G
And your dust has darkened my home
                F
And now that we're old, you're turning your back
   G      F     G
Where else can an old miner go


                 F
Well, it's Algoma Block and it's Big Leather Woods
  G      F    G
And now its Blue Diamond too
                   F
Well, the pits are all closed, better get another job
   G      F     G
What else can an old miner do?



          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
 G     F   G
I worked my life away
          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
  G      F     G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray


INTERLUDE: G F G C  G


               F
John L had a dream, but it's broken it seems
G     F    G
Mining has had it's day
               F
But they're stripping off my mountain top
     G      F     G
And they pay me eight dollars a day


                F
You might get a little poke of welfare meal
 G       F    G
A little poke of welfare flour
                  F
But I tell you right now, you won't qualify
     G     F     G
'Til you work for a quarter an hour


          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
 G     F   G
I worked my life away
          F
In the mines in the mines
    G      C
In the Blue Diamond Mines
  G      F     G
Oh, fall on your knees and pray


OUTRO: G F G C  G