D / G / Bm / A

D           G       Bm     A
Lydie lit a cigarette today
D                G        Bm    A
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
        G              Bm             A              G      
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Bm          A               G
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.

D           G       Bm     A
She lives in the old place all alone,
D                G        Bm    A
Keeps in touch with neighbors by the phone
 G              Bm             A              G 
Grows roses on the graves of her firstborn and his father
Bm          A               G
And the coal trucks never bother her

Chorus
D   Bm             A            G   
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm          A               G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D   Bm         A                G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm       A            G
But she never was the same


D           G       Bm     A
A cotton dress and satin shoes
D                G        Bm    A
Indian summer sun, dressed in amber hues
G              Bm             A              G 
Spending time with a coal miner’s son
Bm          A               G
To an old time fiddle tune


D           G       Bm     A
The months went by just like a breeze that year,
D                G        Bm    A
They wed in June, and by the fall the boy was here
G              Bm             A              G 
Word come down from Big Stone, there’s a fire in the mine
Bm          A               G
And eleven men they couldn’t find

Chorus
D   Bm             A            G   
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm          A               G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D   Bm         A                G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm       A            G
But she never was the same


Break 

D           G       Bm     A
She watched them pull him from the hole,
D                G        Bm    A
The overalls he wore were blackened by the smoke,
G              Bm             A              G 
Lydie twice had had this dream and twice it had come true
Bm          A               G
And when she saw his father’s boots she knew.

Chorus
D   Bm             A            G   
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm          A               G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D   Bm         A                G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm       A            G
But she never was the same


D           G       Bm     A
Lydie lit a cigarette today
D                G        Bm    A
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
        G              Bm             A              G      
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Bm          A               G
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.