Appalachia where the dark sky rolls
Coal fields lie so barren and mean
Mountaintops that reach like thorns
And prick the sky until it bleeds

Soot-black faces, rolled up sleeves
Undefeated football teams
From the coal mines up to the major leagues
The land is torn from shovels and cleats

Appalachian bloodlines
They run dark and they run deep
Deeper than than the furrows
where the ground is hard and steep
Deeper than the worry lines
On a poor dirt farmer's face
More solemn than a hungry family
when they pause for grace

Carter family singing Amazing Grace
I'll never forget Mama Maybelle's face
Mountain wisdom in her crinkly smile
Its a face I could pick out of any crowd

Churches are full on Sunday morn
Speaking in tongues of Old King James
Family bibles weathered and worn
With ten generations of family names

[CHORUS]

Gets hot around here in the summertime
Hotter than a rocket on the Fourth of July
Hotter than the scenes that twist and wind
In the tortured dreams of a young man's mind

June bug bride at age sixteen
Soon grown old in her faded jeans
With a life of hard work, mouths to feed
Family reunions 'neath the poplar trees

[CHORUS]