Intro: GCGGDGGCG
There is a story the coal miners tell
D
In Hazzard Kentucky about a woman called Nell
CG
She came there from somewhere just her and a child
DG
And bought her a farm in the valley
GCG
Now rumor says she had a whole lot of money
D
That boy never would work a day in his life
GCG
And all of the miners, those old forty-niners
DG
Tried harder than ever to make Nell their wife
CDCG
But Nell was a lady content with the baby
D
She'd had a good man who was lost in the mine
GCG
At night she would listen for sounds of his hammer
DG
And look in the coal miners' faces for signs
GCG
For years people talked of the pretty young woman
D
The boy, long neglected, had turned to a man
GCG
Who walked thru the tunnels in search of his daddy
DG
And carried a cold lump of coal in his hand
CDCG
She called the boy David, a name from the Good Book
D
For she believed prayin' was good for the soul
GCG
She'd found him abandoned when he was a baby
DG
Clutched tight in his hand was a cold lump of coal
CGCG
Now the truth of the matter, she tried to keep secret
D
But small towns know more than a body should tell
GCG
And it wasn't long 'til the story was proven
DG
For someone had murded the lady called Nell
GCG
The investigation meant questioning David
D
They hounded that boy 'til he lost self control
CGCG
It seems on the floor underneath that old lady
DG
Just touching her head was a cold lump of coal
GCG
Now witnesses swore 'twas the work of the devil
D
'Cause Jesus could never have been that unkind
CGCG
The jury said guilty, the judge had no mercy
DG
The boy was convicted of serious crime
CDCG
And it wasn't long after the boy's execution
DA man name of Billy confessed to the kill
GCG
His conscience was burdened with innocent bodies
DG
For he swore he'd only been doing God's will
CDCG
He told in a vision the Lord had come to him
D
And whispered go down and take that woman's life
GCG
For she is a sinner not fit to be livin'
DG
Go down there and kill her but don't use your knife
CDCG
Now wait 'til the boy leaves to look for his daddy
D
He'll be forgotten down there in that hole
GCG
Billy confessed how he snuck up behind her
DG
And beat her to death with a cold lump of coal
GCG
Now all of you people that's preaching the gospel
D
Remember repentence must come from the soul
GCG
The Lord knows the answer I'm not free to give it
DCG
For I'm just the voice of a cold lump of coal
This arrangement for the song is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the song. You may only use this for private study, scholarship, or research.