My wife sings this, one of her all time favorites. Deborah recorded this on her "Around the Next Bend" (don't know if it's still in print or on a CD. She's one fine songwriter & a hell of a singer (aside from being a real nice person). She's been in the Cambridge/Boston area at least since 1984 & still sings with 2 other women, can't remember the name of their group at the moment. It's also been recorded by the Reel World String Band on They'll Never Keep Us Down - Women's Coal Mining Songs.

DRAGLINES
(Deborah Silverstein)

CHORUS:
Draglines at my heart they're tearing us apart
And the mountainside where we were born
Must I weep and mourn for the land
that took ten million years to form
Now all my eyes can see are just the bleeding scars
across the mountainside
Across the mountainside

Coalport, Pa., just a little town tucked too far away
for anyone to know
But the folks born and raised
for six generations
Working day by day
Trying to keep themselves a home

Our neighbors down the road
They farmed twelve acres
worked a heavy load
poor as dirt though they tried
till the coal company came through
Said "we'll mine your land
Take the burden off of you
and we'll see that you get by

First they tore down their home
Where their grandma
and all the kids were born
They just brushed it all aside
Then came the big machines
ripped up the trees
and muddied all the streams
while the family stood & cried

Draglines at my heart they're tearing us apart
And the mountainside where we were born
oh take warning that the storm clouds will come
and block out the sun
that's shining on the folks who seek their fortunes off
the families who have died
trying to survive
across the mountainside


Copyright 1987 Deborah Silverstein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vWIzuY_on4