Story Behind The Song
This song is the grandson of SIXTEEN TONS and THE COAL TATTOO and FAST FREIGHT
Song Description
A ramblin mas explains that the reason he has to keep a movin' is because of the coal dust he got in the wounds he got as a kid trying to jump freight trains
| Song Length |
3:00 |
Genre |
Country - Alternative, Country - Traditional |
| Tempo |
Medium Fast (131 - 150) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Restless |
Subject |
Existence, Life |
| Similar Artists |
Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
COAL FEVER
James Michael Taylor
When I caught the fever I was ten years old
Mamma called the doctor, so the story is told
The doctor's diagnosis made her blood run cold
He said I'd been infected by the number nine coal
Coal...
I never told my mamma how I got the disease
I hid the black scars on my elbos and knees
When you grab a boxcar that's starting to roll
You miss that firsdt step, you got a fist full of coal
Coal Fever, Coal fever runs in your blood
Coal Fever, turn your name into mud
Gotta find a woman in every town
That's the only thing'll keep the fever down
They say you starve a fever when you feed it the coal
A wife and six kids can get pretty old
I never leave a trace and don't look back
And they found my old DeSoto by the railroad track
Coal Fever, runs in my blood
Coal Fever, made my name into mud
Gotta find a woman in every town
That's the only thing'll keep the fever down
My mamma died of cancer and my daddy fell apart
I don';t like to think about it because it breaks my heart
Gotta keep a movin' I don't wanna be late
When I hop that Midnight Special at the pearly gate.
Coal Fever runs in my blood
Coal Fever turned my name into mud
Gotta find a woman in every town
That's the only thing'll keep the fever down...