Come all you young fellers so young and so fine
And seek not your fortune way down in the mine
It'll form as a habit and seep in your soul
Till the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal

Chorus:
Where it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew 
Where the dangers are many and the pleasures are few
Where the rain never falls the sun never shines
It's as dark as a dungeon way down in the mine

Well it's many a man that I've seen in my day
Who lived just to labour his whole life away
Like a fiend with his dope or a drunkard his wine
A man must have lust for the lure of the mine

Chorus

I hope when I'm dead and the ages shall roll
My body will blacken and turn into coal
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home
And I'll pity the miner a-digging my bones

[Key = Bb or C]

"Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in an Appalachian shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions.