If I’d known then what I know now
I wouldn’t have been so keen
T’ spend me workin’ life in a coal seam
I’d have stayed above the ground
In the air and sun
Not diggin’ where the Devil has his home.
Chorus:
The Devil is in the dust
That rises from the coal
It rages in your chest
As it battles for your soul.
I washed the dust off every day
A pit black coaly tide
I could not wash the dust I had inside
I wear a mask upon me face
I have and iron lung
Time is short but ev’ry day is long.
Chorus
I am a broken workingman
I am the price of coal
They left me here like this to pay the toll
I refuse t’ fade away
Gentle in the night
In nineteen ninety-eight I won the fight to prove..
Chorus
(bridge to final chorus):
The few quid that they’ve given me
Is useless to me now
At least I’ve proved the truth of what they’ve done
Every breath’s a living death and life’s a living hell
It’s only being angry drives me on.
