Steamin' Down the Muddy Waters Travelin' Yonder From Bay to Bay I Been Workin' On the Barge Line Fourteen Years Ago Today Eighteen Hours Hard Labor By the Day Ain't Much Pay For a Man Chorus: Haulin' Coal Down the Down River And He Won't Be Comin' Home For a Long Time Torches Burning By the Riverside Cast Their Shadows Grey As Stone And the Cool October Days Replacing Much Warmer Thoughts of Home I Can Still See Grandma Sittin' On the Porch Tellin' the Neighbors She's Got a Grandson Chorus: Haulin' Coal Down the Down River And He Won't Be Comin' Home For a Long Time River's Rising Up the Marker Line While the Willows Softly Moan Sun Is Rising Over the Starboard Shore Paving the Golden Road Back Home I Can Still See the Kids Jumpin' Rope But There Ain't Much Hope For a Man Chorus: Haulin' Coal Down the Down River And He Won't Be Comin' Home For a Long Time Haulin' Coal Down the Down River I'll Be Gone a Long Time Haulin' Coal Down the Down River I'll Be Gone a Long While