Coal Mining Top Ten: Black Lung (#6)

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As I’ve mentioned in earlier songs in this countdown of my favorites about coal mining, a number of these songs paint the true picture of how horrible a job coal mining is. Today’s song is one of those songs that will make you cry, and make you angry. #6: Black Lung - Hazel Dickens I’ll let you know before you listen: you’re not going to find Hazel Dickens’ voice “pretty.” But then, this isn’t a pretty subject. Dickens wrote this song, she said, for her older brother, who died from black lung disease (destruction of the lungs caused by breathing coal dust). The song paints the bleakest picture possible: a man works, gets a terminal illness from that work, and then the company turns its back on him (“it seems you’re not wanted when you’re sick and your poor, you ain’t even covered in their medical plans”). The family is seething when the “boss man” shows up at the funeral with a token floral arrangement and gets told off (“take back those flowers, don’t you sing no sad song”). Hazel Dickens was an amazing force in bluegrass: a socially conscious poet that would put Dylan to shame. Her gritty, gutsy presence kicked the door open for female performers in bluegrass, much the way Kitty Wells did in country music. Her influence is still felt (Kathy Mattea recently covered this song), and the voice she raised for the coal miners during her lifetime still echoes through the hills and hollers. Black Lung Written by Hazel Dickens Recorded by Hazel Dickens From Come All You Coal Miners, 1973 The dye has been cast: