A friend in Tennessee sent this paragraph from a newspaper...
"If the great Phil Ochs were to rise from the dead today, he would probably be hailed as the new David Rovics."
Andy Kershaw, BBC
Story behind the song
A friend in Tennessee sent this paragraph from a newspaper:
"In August 1968, $800,000 worth of machinery was blown up in Bell County
Kentucky. One evening in December, four months later, just across the border
in Campbell County Tennessee local saboteurs dynamited nearly one million
dollars in machinery belonging to the Blue Diamond Coal Company, including a
diesel shovel, a railroad car, two large drills, and several trucks and
bulldozers. Sabotage on a smaller scale occurs frequently; steam shovels
worth between $50,000 and $90,000 are often found demolished. Armor piercing
bullets have been fired at working bulldozers during the day and gun battles
with company guards are not unknown at night."
Lyrics
I grew up on this mountain
Came back here to dwell
Maybe have a family
Plant some corn and dig a well
I was all done with the Army
Back from Vietnam
Where I learned how to shoot a rifle
And how to set a bomb
I grew up on this mountain
It's in my very soul
So when the company moved next door
Started digging for the coal
Tearing up the mountain
With drillers and draglines
I knew then what needed
To happen to those mines
10, 9, 8
Sometimes that's just how it goes
3, 2, 1
Get out before it blows
The guard, he was sleeping
On duty thru the night
I stepped gently on the ground
And stayed well out of sight
I tied sticks to the equipment
Switched the timer on
Then I knew that in ten seconds
These dozers would be gone
I had to leave the mountain
I headed to the west
The cops were on my trail
And I figured it was best
And I figured I did my small part
To make the world free
In my humble manner
In East Tennessee
