Dark as a Dungeon (Merle Travis)

“Dark as a Dungeon” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Dark as a Dungeon” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).

Lyrics: Merle Travis.
Tune: Merle Travis.


Come all you young fellows so young and so fine,
Seek not your fortune in the dark, dreary mine.
It will form like a habit and seep in your soul
Till the stream of your blood is as black as the coal.

It’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew;
The dangers are many and the pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It’s dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.

There’s many a man I have known in my day
Who lived just to labor his whole life away;
Like a fiend for his dope and a drunkard his wine,
A man will have lust for the lure of the mine.

It’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew;
The dangers are many and the pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It’s dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.

I hope when I’m gone and the ages will roll
My body will blacken and turn into coal;
Then I’ll look from the door of my heavenly home
And pity the miner a-digging my bones.

It’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew;
The dangers are many and the pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It’s dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.


Leave a Reply:

%d bloggers like this: