A HERO IN HARLAN
Recorded by: Tom T. Hall

A grey silver casket rolls off of the airplane,
The stars and the stripes draped over the lid.
Inside is the body of our little brother.
They say he's a soldier, but he's just a kid.

Well, we're here to take him to Harlan, Kentucky
Where he will be buried in our family plot.
We think of that day when he went in the army
Expecting a much better job than he got.

And he'll be a hero in Harlan
Like all the young soldiers before.
He's not the first and he won't be the last
To lay down his life in a war.

Somewhere in the records, he'll just be a number,
Another young man lyin' under a sheet.
We're takin' him home to rest high on a hillside
And he'll be a hero in Harlan this week.

SPOKEN: Well, he never made A's when he sat in the classroom,
Never got dates with the prettiest girl.
SUNG: When he got turned down for a job in the coalmine,
I guess that's what led him to go save the world.

He'll be a hero in Harlan
Like all the young soldiers before.
He's not the first and he won't be the last
To lay down his life in a war.

CHANGE KEY: Well, the world's a big place and maybe needs savin',
But what can a country boy do with a gun?
He used to win teddy bears down at the fairgrounds
When livin' was easy and shootin' was fun.

They fold up the Stars and the Stripes for his mother
And gently they trade her the flag for her son.
A harder exchange never took place in Harlan,
But it's not the first time it's ever been done.

And he'll - be - a - hero - in - Harlan.