Got married at 16, had a 15 year old wife

Guess I've been a grown man, just about all my life

Like my daddy before me, I've done the best I could

Somehow things turned out a little worse than they should



Logan West Virginia is a hundred mile behind

Coal mines took my boys life and my Janie's piece of mind

All I know is back in Logan and I ain't never been that smart

But I know I had to leave there to heal my Janie's heart



Damn these hard times, damn the coal mines

Damn the good dreams gone cold

While I'm at it, damn this crooked road



Me and Janie worked hard to get our children grown

Junior was our first born it's cut us to the bone

We learned long ago that you don't doubt the good lords plan

But some things is hard to take lord, we just tryin' to understand



But damn these hard times, damn the coal mines

Damn the good dreams gone cold

While I'm at it, damn this crooked road



There's a big blue ocean another 300 mile

Sun on the water just might make my Janie smile

Light in her eyes is worth more to me than gold

Hope runs straight line right down this mountain road



So damn these hard times, damn the coal mines

Damn the good dreams gone cold

While I'm at it, damn this crooked road

While I'm at it, damn this crooked road