Come all of you good people and listen to my tale,
Of how the good in Harlan County are treated like they're in a jail.
Just because we stand together and the union is our stand
We're treated like some outlaws from another foreign land.
(Chorus)
In Harlan County there is no such thing as right and wrong,
A law for them that's rich and mighty, another for them that's poor and gone.
Oh, sometimes I dream of packing up and moving on,
But then I see these hungry people and remember they depend on me.
(Verse 2)
It's hard to get a doctor 'cause they've all been run away,
And now they say "Go south to Georgia, if you're lookin' for the USA".
In old Kennedy the company owns the mayor and the law,
And even the preacher man don't say nothing for the poor.
(Chorus)
In Harlan County there is no such thing as right and wrong,
A law for them that's rich and mighty, another for them that's poor and gone.
Oh, sometimes I dream of packing up and moving on,
But then I see these hungry people and remember they depend on me.
(Verse 3)
Now I'm sitting here in jail like some hardened criminal
'Cause some company man thought it fit just to throw me in.
All I did was fight to survive and fight to be free
But when you fight them, well, you're bound to get the pen'tentiary.
(Chorus)
In Harlan County there is no such thing as right and wrong,
A law for them that's rich and mighty, another for them that's poor and gone.
Oh, sometimes I dream of packing up and moving on,
But then I see these hungry people and remember they depend on me.