Ms. Loveless
patty Loveless
You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive
Released in June 2001, Mountain Soul was Patty Loveless’ 11th studio album. All 14 songs on it are powerful, but none more than the 1997 song penned by Darrell Scott.
Scott said the inspiration for the song came from a visit to Harlan County, Kentucky, in an attempt to research his own family history. While in a cemetery attempting to find his great-grandfather's grave, he saw the phrase "you'll never leave Harlan alive" on a tombstone.
““You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive”
In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That’s the place where I traced my bloodline
And it’s there I read on a hillside gravestone
You’ll never leave Harlan alive
Oh my grandfather’s dad crossed the Cumberland Mountains
Where he took a pretty girl to be his bride
Said “Won’t you walk with me out the mouth of this holler
Or we’ll never leave Harlan alive”
Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin’
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you’ll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you’re drinkin’
And you spend your life just thinkin’ of how to get away
No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains
Till a man from the northeast arrived Waving hundred dollar bills
Said “I’ll pay you for your minerals”
But he never left Harlan alive
Grandma sold out cheap and they moved out west of Pineville
To a farm where Big Richland River winds
And I bet they danced them a jig
And they laughed and sang a new song
”Who said we’d never leave Harlan alive”
But the times they got hard and tobacco wasn’t selling
And old grandad knew what he’d do to survive
He went and dug for Harlan coal
And sent the money back to grandma
But he never left Harlan alive
Where the sun comes up about ten in the mornin’
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you’ll fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you’re drinkin’
And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave.
You’ll never leave Harlan alive
”
Watch the masterful duet by Patty and Chris Stapleton from the 2022 CMA awards.
This is her original 2001 version from Mountain Soul.