Big Branch (feat. TOMASIA)

Who's the outlaw? Quick on the draw? Cast the first stone if you don't have a flaw. Who fills the jails? Who lives above the law? White collar, Black Market, Who's Rich, Who's Poor? Never knew my father 'cos he worked all day Left the house sundown that's the coal miner's way The pay was real good he made 70 k But it wasn't worth all the things he had to give away His father did the same thing same type Took everything he had until it took his life When I lost my grandfather I was seven years old Decided then and there I would never mine coal. That plus the dust on everything in our home A quarter inch thick on every single thing we owned But that was nothing compared to what we couldn't see Toxic particles in the air we had to breathe. He tried so hard to be relocated His boss wouldn't do it and my mom was devastated He started a petition and everyone enlisted Til he lost his job and he got blacklisted During this time I got to know my dad He would tell me stories 'bout the job he had It's the culture round here and it makes people proud Basically it's pretty much the only job around He told me how they took apart the ventilation system Sent two men instead of one to speed up the production They knew it wasn't safe but they followed the instruction One hundred feet of coal a day that was their only function No matter if it took twelve hours or sixteen They took short cuts to keep the operation lean Skipping safety measures made it risky for the team But they all knew the deal so nobody intervened When inspectors came watchdogs would let them know And out the dust pumps so the level reads low The more violation the more production grows Someone dies from black lung every time the wind blows Then it came time for me to go out on my own A tear in my mama's eye child you've grown Can't recall a time when I felt so alone As when I headed straight into the danger zone Always good at science always loved chemistry But here in West Virginia there's not a lot of options, see? My buddy had a meth lab he ran underground Out of a mobile home on the outskirts of town Business was picking up and he could use my help Learn the red, white 'n blue, process for myself Iodine, ephedrine, red phosphorus Highly combustible and high risk BAAM, I lost my hand, blew up the lab And from the jail cell I would hear the same blast But this came from the Big Branch coal mine I just found out that it killed twenty-five Who's the outlaw? Quick on the draw? Cast the first stone if you don't have a flaw. Who fills the jails? Who lives above the law? White collar, Black Market, Who's Rich, Who's Poor?