Key of Eb, capo 1, play in D
/ / /
Lydie lit a cigarette today
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.
She lives in the old place all alone,
Keeps in touch with neighbors by the phone
Grows roses on the graves of her firstborn and his father
And the coal trucks never bother her
Chorus
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
Oh Lydia your tears are heavenâs rain
But she never was the same
A cotton dress and satin shoes
Indian summer sun, dressed in amber hues
Spending time with a coal minerâs son
To an old time fiddle tune
The months went by just like a breeze that year,
They wed in June, and by the fall the boy was here
Word come down from Big Stone, thereâs a fire in the mine
And eleven men they couldnât find
Chorus
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
Oh Lydia your tears are heavenâs rain
But she never was the same
Break
She watched them pull him from the hole,
The overalls he wore were blackened by the smoke,
Lydie twice had had this dream and twice it had come true
And when she saw his fatherâs boots she knew.
Chorus
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
Oh Lydia your tears are heavenâs rain
But she never was the same
Lydie lit a cigarette today
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.