The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore is a song composed by Jean Ritchie. I'm not sure if it has ever been performed at the Brew Pub, but I'm blogging about it because it kind of reminds me of Mannington Number 9, which is a Keith McManus song performed by the Woodticks as well as Stewed Mulligan.
Like Mannington, L&N tells a tragic story about coal mining, but in this case it focuses on another scourge of the mines: unemployment. The closing of a coal mine does not destroy anything physically, but it is incredibly destructive economically. It is a real song, and everyone who either works in mining, or has friends or families who work in mining, understands what it is all about.
I first heard this song from Norman Blake, in his Directions album from the late 1970s. Norman plays guitar for that and his wife Nancy accompanies on cello. That album is no longer available (like the L&N, it shut down). Fortunately there are other excellent versions on youtube.com.
Like Mannington, L&N tells a tragic story about coal mining, but in this case it focuses on another scourge of the mines: unemployment. The closing of a coal mine does not destroy anything physically, but it is incredibly destructive economically. It is a real song, and everyone who either works in mining, or has friends or families who work in mining, understands what it is all about.
I first heard this song from Norman Blake, in his Directions album from the late 1970s. Norman plays guitar for that and his wife Nancy accompanies on cello. That album is no longer available (like the L&N, it shut down). Fortunately there are other excellent versions on youtube.com.
My current favorite is the version by Kathy Mattea, which is much more rhythmic--bluegrassized if that is a word--compared to the others, although there are several excellent versions available on youtube and other sources.
Below are lyrics to the song, based mainly on the Kathy Matte version:
When I was a curly headed baby
D Em
My daddy set me down upon his knee
D Em
Said “boy you go to school and learn your letters.
C D Em
Don't you be no dusty coal miner like me.”
D Em
My daddy set me down upon his knee
D Em
Said “boy you go to school and learn your letters.
C D Em
Don't you be no dusty coal miner like me.”
chorus:
D Em
D Em
I was born and raised in the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
D Em
Coal cars rumbled past my door
D Em
But now they stand in a rusty row, all empty
C D Em
'Cause the L&N she don't stop here anymore.
D Em
Coal cars rumbled past my door
D Em
But now they stand in a rusty row, all empty
C D Em
'Cause the L&N she don't stop here anymore.
Well I used to think my daddy was a black man
With script enough to buy the company store
Oh but now he goes to town with empty pockets
And Lord his face as white as the February snow.
With script enough to buy the company store
Oh but now he goes to town with empty pockets
And Lord his face as white as the February snow.
(chorus)
(instrumental break)
Never thought I'd ever learn to love that coal dust
Never thought I'd pray to hear that whistle roar
Oh but God I wish the grass would turn to money
And them greenbacks fill my pockets once more.
Never thought I'd pray to hear that whistle roar
Oh but God I wish the grass would turn to money
And them greenbacks fill my pockets once more.
(Chorus)
Lastnight I dreamed I went down to the coal yard,
To draw my pay like I had done before
But those kudzu vines were covering all the windows
And there were weeds and grass growing right up through the floor.
(Chorus)
To draw my pay like I had done before
But those kudzu vines were covering all the windows
And there were weeds and grass growing right up through the floor.
(Chorus)
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