Mining such coal 100 years ago required constant presence in a bent position. "You can imagine what it was like if you imagine working all day, sitting under your kitchen table. It requires muscles and relaxation. These people were almost like yogis — they're so flexible."
Translation: Take a pickaxe and a shovel, carry a warning light, Don't forget the wicks and dynamite,
Wear knee pads and protective gloves;
We are going to a coal mine where there is little coal.
Chorus:
Riding a lizard in a thirty-inch coal seam;
Look how the cable sparkles, look how the wheels roll. Now, Lord, have mercy on the miner's soul,
Get down on your poor knees in thirty-inch charcoal.
Secure the workings, secure the wedges,
Or your wife and kids won't see you tonight. Spread some rock dust, spread some more,
So that the coal dust does not settle on the floor of the mine.
