Miners came from Tennessee back in 1891 The west was still young and free like the early mornin' sun Diggin' into the mountainside lookin' for a streak of gold In the marrow of the onyx mine lies the story that they told
Now a hundred years gone by you still can see their sign Way out on the Boulder Road that leads down to the old mine I came for the first time when I was just sixteen Now twenty years have passed and I'm still just a refugee
'Cause I feel somethin' when I ride that rocky trail I hear voices in the tall dark pines And I don't feel nothin' when I drive these city streets So I think I'll leave this city behind And head for the onyx mine
Father told the story about drivin' that old road In a 1941 Ford the day after it snowed A downed-log through the fender and a busted-out headlamp By the early mornin' light they made it to the old mine camp
When my world turns dark and cold and the gold in life don't shine I gather up my family and we head up to the old mine We sit around a campfire and look up at the full white moon And listen to the coyote howl an old ghost miner's tune
'Cause I feel somethin' when I ride that rocky trail I hear voices in the tall dark pines And I don't feel nothin' when I drive these city streets So I think I'll leave this city behind And head for the onyx mine For the onyx mine