Darrell Scott -- You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive [REACTION/RATING]

Here is the deep story of coal-mining country and the lives coal miners live. This is real life.
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[nathaneley]

This whole transatlantic session is beautiful, Darrell is just incredible. He does "The Open Door" on this also its outstanding

[MarkCarson-ef]

That Jerry Douglass was awesome on that dobro!

[JohnBQuinn-mkvf]

Darrell 100% wrote it, along with many more amazing songs. He's a great songwriter, to put it lightly.

[Rino]

Darrell Scott is great! He’s super underrated.

[daledubose]

If you go to the town of Evarts KY, in Harlan County, you can see this song in every person and every thing you see.

[shawnbasil]

The line about the mining executive never leaving Harlan alive could also refer to the Harlan County War in the 1930s. Miners and union organizers got into a series of shootings in which some of the mining company execs were killed. This whole affair happened again in the 70s in Pike County.

[ronnywestberry]

I heard this first from Patty. Then I heard this version because it was the theme song for the show Justified. Great song

[ladysilvara]

Wow. I literally got a cold chill. Part of it was the song, but it was also his voice. Perfect voice for this song. And the music to go with it. Everything just fit so perfect. Amazing.

[shirleykelly]

Have loved this song ever since I heard it on Justified I recognize Jerry Douglas in the back with his dobro

[medinadg]

The dobro player is Jerry Douglas from Allison Kraus and Union Station. Such a good player. Glad you liked it, one of my favorite tunes for over a decade!

[TheGarretdeas]

This is one song that sends a shiver up your spine as it expertly captures the daily tough living endured by the Harlan county residents in both a physical and spiritual sense. We have the basis here for a novel, play or even a film as the lyrics are so vivid and evocative of the routines and landscape of a Kentucky coal-mining community. This must be one of the best if not best versions of the song by the guy who wrote it.


The classic song "Sixteen Tons" by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford came to mind while listening to this tune as it also dealt with the daily grind of a coal-miner who is practically enslaved to the company he works for. The following timeless lyrics from "Sixteen Tons" says it all-


"You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store"


Thanks again for your very insightul review and rating of the song, Don, much appreciated. Keep rockin' that country.

[momusicfan]

For whatever reason while watching your reaction today, a song popped into my head. It is "LONG LINE OF LOVE" Michael Martin Murphey. I think as you were talking Country Music being all about the story. LONG LINE OF LOVE has a good story. Check it out sometime. Stay safe out east Don.

[bertwhitehead]

I grew up in Harlan KY. My dad broke his back in a cave in working in Harlan coal mines watch him cry because he couldn't go back

[ammobluff]

Great review, Darrell is underrated for sure! You gotta love the emotive spirit from this song.

[silverfox]

I find it cool that this song exists cause my mother's side are the ones who made the town Harlan. They were crazy, but not as bad as the Hatfield side. Turns out that this is one of my favorite songs, funny how that kind of stuff works out that way.

[hillcountrydigger]

Awesome! Darrell definitely wrote this song along with countless other amazing songs, some that have been recorded by major recording artist like Travis Tritt and the Dixie Chicks. So many songs to react to by Darrell. The Open Door, Uncle Lloyd, The Dreamer just to name a very few. Very cool!

[PapaFixit]

Damn! We get a bunch of good stuff on here. Don't we?

[tritchie]

If memory serves London KY is in Laurel County. Laurel county, Knott county, Harlan County, Pike County and a few others are all considered as being part of whats now called the coal fields. My Dad grew up in what he called the Coal Camp's.

[optim]

I went with my Aunt & Uncle (by marriage) to visit his folks in Kentucky coal country one summer. My Uncle had joined the Navy as a young man and left the mountains behind. I don't remember much about the trip, but I remember passing old clapboard shacks that must have housed the miners. None of them had steps at the front door. Today I have the notion they got burned as fire wood, but don't recall if I was told that at the time. My Uncle's family lived in a house across a river or creek. The bridge was just wide enough for a car and not confidence inspiring. A boy there related to my Uncle, and a friend of his, burned a tire on the river bank one night and we fished and talked until the tire burned out. There was an anvil in a rickety little barn and some lead that was used to make the sinkers for the lines on the cane poles. I recall one of them telling me they were once let out of school to help put out a fire on the side of the mountain. One morning we literally sat on the back porch and shot a .22 rifle with the side of a mountain as a backstop. Despite not having a lot, the people were friendly and kind, but there seemed to be a contrast to the lifestyle that carried a tinge of sadness. A coal mining legacy - or just the perception of a "city boy"?

[RandyforRoyals]

I'm glad you reacted to this version as it is the only version I know and liked hearing your thoughts. Two other fine coal mining songs are "Won't Be Over No Coal" by Pat Haney and "Dark As A Dungeon" by Merle Travis.