MINER'S STRAWBERRIES


My pappy was rich but not famous
My ma she was pretty but plain
And I always thought
My parents they ought
To have made miner's strawberries my middle name


CHORUS
Oh them good ole miner's strawberries
The best stuff that ever you seen
I was twenty years old
Before I was told
That miner's strawberries ain't nothin' but beans


We bathed once a week usin' lye soap
In a number two galvanized tub
Then sat down to eat
With a patch on our seat
And a bowl full of miner's strawberries for grub
CHORUS


My ma was a queen in the kitchen
And many's the time she would say
That havin' good health
Is better than wealth
So we eat miner's strawberries three times a day
CHORUS


You can bake 'em or brown 'em or burn 'em
Or boil 'em for hours in a pot
Then serve 'em up cold
A week or two old
If you're hungry enough they'll still hit the spot
CHORUS


There's many a boy such as I was
Who growed up to manhood and found
That he was derned lucky
Them days in Kentucky
To always have miner's strawberries around
CHORUS


by Merle Travis
from the album Songs of the Coal Mines
Capitol ST-1956 recorded in 1963

Copyright American Music, BMI