Poverty is a Hereditary Disease (A Song)

South Carolina

Sing me to sleep

The day's been long

And I'm a restless thing

Oh, South Carolina

My sweet

Sing me to sleep

They say if you dig deep

You'll find hell beneath

And I'm one to think

It's always waiting

Right beneath our feet

Down in that hole

Before the sun thinks to shine

Crawl our way out

When the daylight is dying

My father dug before me

And his Pa before im'

The blacklung took em both

Take me too I presume

But there's men in New York

Detroit and Washington DC

Who make all the money

And they need electricity

When I sit down at night

Coal dust staining my skin

To eat an honest meal with my kin

I thank god for that mine

Because poverty, it's hereditary

And my chldren gotta eat

So at night, when I can barely breathe

I make myself sing:

South Carolina,

Sing me to sleep,

The day's been long

And I'm a restless thing.

Oh, South Carolina,

My sweet,

Sing me to sleep.