[Am] In the deep, [C] dark hills of [G] eastern [D] Kentucky
That the [Am] place where I [C] trace my [F] bloodline
And it?s [F] there I [C] read on a [G] hillside [D] gravestone
You will [F] never leave [G] Harlan [Am] alive

Oh, my granddad?s [C] dad walked down [G] Katahrins [D] Mountain
And he [Am] asked Tillie [C] Helton to be his [F] bride
Said, won?t you [F] walk with me [C] out of the [G] mouth of this [D] 
holler
Or we?ll [F] never leave [G] Harlan [Am] alive

Chorus
Where the sun comes [C] up about [F] ten in the [C] morning
And the sun goes [Am] down about [G] three in the [F] day
And you fill your [C] cup with whatever [F] bitter brew you?re [C] drinkin?
And you spend your [Am] life just thinkin? of [G] how to get [F] away

[Am] No one ever [C] knew there was [G] coal in them [D] mountains
?Til a [Am] man from the [C] Northeast [F] arrived
Waving [F] hundred dollar [C] bills said, I?ll [G] pay you for your [D] 
minerals
But he [F] never left [G] Harlan [Am] alive

[Am] Granny sold out [C] cheap and they [G] moved out west of [D] Pineville
To a [Am] farm where big [C] Richland River [F] winds
I bet they [F] danced them a [C] jig, laughed and [G] sang a new [D] song
Who said we?d [F] never leave [G] Harlan [Am] alive

{Break-same as verse}

But the [Am] times they got [C] hard and tobacco [G] wasn?t [D] selling
And ole [Am] granddad knew what [C] he?d do to [F] survive
He went and [F] dug for Harlan [C] coal and sent the [G] money back to [D] 
granny
But he [F] never left [G] Harlan [Am] alive

Where the sun comes [C] up about [F] ten in the [C] morning
And the sun goes [Am] down about [G] three in the [F] day
And you fill your [C] cup with whatever [F] bitter brew you?re [C] drinkin?
And you spend your [Am] life digging coal from the [G] bottom of your [F] 
grave

Repeat Chorus
[Am] In the deep, [C] dark hills of [G] eastern [D] Kentucky
That the [Am] place where I [C] trace my [F] bloodline
And it?s [F] there I [C] read on a [G] hillside [D] gravestone
You will [F] never leave [G] Harlan [Am] alive