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Capo on 2nd fret
E B7 E
I come from the mountains, Kentucky's my home,
E B7 E
Where the wild deer and the black bear so lately did roam.
A E
By cool rushing waterfalls the wildflowers dream,
E B7
And through every green valley there runs a clear stream.
E A
Now there's scenes of destruction on every hand,
E B7 E
And there only black waters run down through my land.
A E
Sad scenes of destruction on every hand,
E B7 E
Black waters, black waters run down through the land.
E B7 E
Oh the quail, she's a pretty bird, she sings a sweet tongue.
E B7 E
In the roots of the tall timber(s) she nests with her young.
A E
But the hillside explodes with the dynamite's roar
E B7
And the voices of the small birds are will sound there no more;
E A
And the hillsides come a-sliding so awful and grand,
E B7 E
And the flooding black waters rise over my land.
(Refrain)
E B7 E
In the rising of the springtime we planted our corn.
E B7 E
In the ending of the springtime we buried a son.
A E
In the summer come a nice man, says, 'Everything's fine.
E B7
My employer just requires a way to his mine.'
A E
Then they threw down the mountains and covered my corn,
E B7
And the grave on the hillside's a mile deeper down,
E A
And the man stands and talks with his hat in his hand
E B7 E
As the poisonous water spreads over my land.
(Refrain)
E B7 E
Well, I ain got no money, not much of a home.
E B7 E
I own my own land, but my land's not my own.
A E
But, if I had ten million, somewhere thereabouts,
E B7
I would buy Perry County and I'd run 'em all out!
E A
Set down on the bank with my bait in my can
E B7 E
And just watch the clear waters run down through my land.
E A
Now, wouldn't that be like the old promised land?
E B7 E
Black waters, black waters no more in our land.
(Repeat final refrain)
Written by Jean Ritchie